Not every lord is evil
by RusEmp
Summary: Harry is having a bad year so far. Voldemort has returned, Ministry hates him. And how does this new student know so much!
1. Chapter I: Mission

A.N. Warning! AU ahead!

Third person POV

Deep inside the dimension known as Ghost Zone, was an unusual place. Giant gears and clocks were floating in a neverending mass of green and black. In the center of this place stood giant a clocktower. That was the lair of Clockwork, The Master of Time. The owner of the place currently stood in a massive room, on front of one of his viewing screens.

It was showing the image of a fifteen years old boy with jet-black hair and green eyes, fighting against a white skinned figure in dark robes. Of course, Clockwork knew who these two were. Especially the last one. Tom Marvollo Riddle, also known as Lord Voldemort. This person was guilty of many things. One of them the reason the Master of Time was going to have guests in three... Two... One.

"CLOCKWORK!" High voices resonated across the tower. Here it comes. Observants. Clockwork's biggest headache.

"I assume, you are here to discuss the matters of Thomas Riddle?" He asked, changing into his toddler form.

"YES! He has returned and you know that!" One of them shouted.

"No need to be so loud, I will handle this, as always."

"You are going to send your surrogate son, aren't you?" The second Observant asked.

"It shouldn't matter to you, I can't intervene directly. Now, please, care to observe the door?"

With that his guests went away. For once, they were right, Clockwork WAS going to send Daniel on a mission. Why not, he was completely capable for this. Young Phantom had faced beings considered gods in some cultures and emerged victorious.

Clockwork took the boy in when he was six years old. His parents were ghost hunters, very bright for that matter. But Ectology was a new science. And very dangerous. Ectoplasm itself was a hazardous material, which was why Jack and Madeline were wearing jumpsuits 24/7. And, as the Time Master saw many times, people never learn from their mistakes. The Fentons weren't exceptions. You would think the accident with the Ghost Portal prototype would teach them to take some precautions. It sent their college friend into the hospital for ten years! But no, they just needed to create another one. The Fentons built it in the basement of their own house. The new portal was bigger and more energy-consuming. Clockwork still remembered that day, when it was finished.

\- Nine years ago -

"Kids! Get down to the basement, please!" Jack Fenton's loud voice rang through the entire FentonWorks building. He was a very tall man in his midyears with blue eyes and graying black hair, wearing a bright orange jumpsuit.

The basement of the Fentons' household was also a lab. Walls, floor and roof were covered in the lines of metal, shining with silvery light. Pieces of engineering were lying everywhere. And, of course, the pearl in this place was the Fenton Portal. Jack and Maddie had been working on this project for a long time. And now, it was finally done!

There was a sound of loud and fast footsteps on the stairs. Two kids came down. The first one was an eight years old girl with red hair and teal eyes. The second was a younger boy with black hair and icy blue eyes. They were Jasmine and Daniel Fenton.

"What is it, Dad?" Said the older sibling. Jack grinned.

"We wanted to show you our newest invention!" He answered.

"Is it that portal thingy?" Danny asked curiously.

"Of course, sweetie!" Confirmed Maddie, removing red googles from her eyes, "Jack, you can start"

"Yo-hoo!" The tall man shouted in excitement. He grabbed two wires from the floor.

"BANZAI!"

With that Jack plugged them. The insides of the portal were lightened by electrical sparks. Nothing happened after that, and the Fenton seniors walked away with dropped heads and sad looks. Then, the portal started making a whirring sound, and a green and black vortex appeared on the inside.

"It worked!" Both adults shouted in excitement and ran closer to their creation. That proved to be a mistake.

Last thing Danny remembered were blaring lights and loud alarms, mixed with his parents' shouts. He woke up very much in pain, every part of his body ached and he could barely move. Pieces of rubble were everything that surrounded young boy.

"Mommy? Daddy? Jazz?" He was shouting, fruitlessly trying to find his family members. Silence was his answer. Danny fell to the ground and started crying and sobbing. Suddenly, a blue circle, looking like a clock, appeared in the air.

From there floated a person in purple robes with a staff in his hands. The young boy was terrified by him. The man had blue skin, red eyes and FLOATED in the air. Danny was shaking in fear. The person just looked at him with a sad look.

"Worry not, child. I am not going to do anything bad to you," the now old man said.

"You are a ghost. Mommy and Daddy said they are evil," Danny responded, still shaking.

"I know what your parents told you, young one. But I can assure you, not every one of us is evil. Me, for example. Or you."

"W-what?!" The boy exclaimed, "I-I'm a g-ghost?!"

In response, Clockwork summoned a mirror and gave it to Danny. He was shocked by what he saw. The mirror was showing a boy with white and black hair. One of his eyes remained icy blue, while the other was glowing with deadly green light. Boy's skin became paler. It was too much for him to take in and Danny started sobbing again. The Time Master put a hand on the child's shoulder.

"Don't worry so much, Daniel, you are only half-ghost."

"Half-ghost?" Danny asked.

"Yes, and you will learn more about it later," Clockwork then added in sad tone, "I'm terribly sorry about your loss."

"Thank you," the boy said in a hoarse voice.

"If you want, you can come with me," At this Danny lifted his head and stared at the man.

"What?"

"You can go to my home, where I will teach you everything you need to know. What's your choice?"

Danny looked at the ground, deep in thought. This guy was a ghost, but... He was very nice. And he offered him a place to live. If Danny stayed here, he would go to an orphanage, and he watched enough movies to know that it was bad place. Not mentioning that he would be labeled a freak for his new appearance. Danny looked at the Time Master.

"Okay, mister..." The ghost chuckled.

"My name is Clockwork, Daniel. Follow me," with a twirl of his staff, Clockwork created another portal. Before the pair stepped inside, Danny asked.

"Wait, how do you know my name?"

"I know everything."

And with that, the Time Master and his new ward walked through the blue circle.

\- Present Time -

As the time went, the two became closer. And on Danny's first deathday, the young boy called Clockwork 'daddy'. Even if he mumbled that in an half-asleep condition, it still warmed the Time Master's core as nothing else did.

And Clockwork was proud of his son. Despite his young age, starting from eleven, Danny had done many heroic deeds. He befreed Aragon's kingdom from the tyranny of the Dragon Prince, encouraging his sister to rebel against the ruler and fight against Aragon himself. Danny also returned Pandora's box to its' owner, when the Box Ghost stole it, trying to finally scare anyone. He was also helping out here and there, and there was hardly anyone in the Ghost Zone who hated this boy.

And there was a feat, which put his name in the legends. Pariah Dark had awoken from his sleep. The fool who opened his prison, another halfa named Vlad Plasmius, wanted to acquire power given by two artifacts: the Crown of fire and the Ring of Rage. Separated, they were nothing but accessories, but together they could make a mortal very powerful, and a powerful man - a god. But despite all the odds and hardships, young Phantom defeated the Ghost King and saved both worlds.

"Dad! I heard the Observants' shouts, is something wrong?" Clockwork heard his son say.

Danny was now fifteen years old. He was currently wearing a black and white T-shirt with his signature 'DP' in the middle, blue jeans and sneakers.

"Yes, Daniel, come over here, please," said the Time Master, gesturing for Danny to come closer.

"Who are they?" Asked young Phantom, looking at the screen. His father smiled slightly.

"Answer me, Daniel, do you believe in magic?" Danny blinked in surprise.

"Well, Desiree can do magic, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised," after that Clockwork summoned two chairs and the small family sat on them.

"Let me tell you a bit about the Wizarding World. Unlike ghosts, wizards and witches," Danny snickered at that, which was ignored by his father, "live alongside muggles, people without magical abilities. They just hide very well, since Medieval ages that is"

"And, as in every society, there are people who abused the power given to them. Dark wizards. The most famous of them is Tom Marvollo Riddle, also known as Lord Voldemort. People tend to avoid calling him by name. In the magical world, heritage means very much. So called 'Purebloods' are considered nobility, these are ones who have both wizarding parents, 'Halfbloods', who have only one, and 'Muggleborns', who were born in non magical family."

"It's the last of them that Voldemort wanted to destroy. The Wizarding world was thrown into a full fledged war, which ended fourteen years ago. You see, some wizards had the ability to see the future. Even if they see it like an Observant, only something that's going to happen with the current flow of time. And Voldemort got the 'prophecy', that he would be defeated by Harry Potter, who was an infant at that moment"

"Lily and James Potter, Harry's parents, went into hiding, but they were betrayed by Peter Pettigrew, a friend of theirs, and their hideout was found. During Halloween night, Riddle came to them. He killed the older Potters. But, when he tried to do the same thing to Harry, Avada Kedavra, the killing curse, backfired on Voldemort, leaving the infant with a lightning shaped scar. No one heard about the Dark Lord until now."

"A few months ago, after a special ritual, he returned. The reason Observants are so angry, is that Voldemort tried to cheat with Death."

"Why didn't he tell me anything?" Danny asked. They were kinda buddies with an ancient ghost. How much people do you know who can say 'I drank tea with Death last Sunday'?

"The topic didn't come up. Anyways, there are such things called Horcruxes. When person commits murder, cold blooded murder, their soul splits. Wizards discovered a way to put the pieces of soul into certain objects. These are horcruxes."

"So, I need to go there and destroy these things?"

"Not exactly, you are going to school," Danny beamed at his father. Since an 'accident' happened when he was six, Phantom never had a chance to go to school. He was educated by Clockwork and his old friend Ghostwriter. It was interesting, but lonely. Then a question came to the young halfa's mind.

"What school?" Clockwork smiled.

"Why, magical school, of course!"

"But that means..."

"You are a wizard, Danny"

"Wow. It's a lot to take in for one day." Nevertheless, the boy was excited. "Imagine, how..."

"Pranks can wait, Daniel," Clockwork said, interrupting Danny's thoughts and causing him to pout.

"Now for some details. You will need to catch up with material, since you are going to be in fifth year. Usually, Hogwarts doesn't have an 'exchange students', but the Headmaster is an old friend of mine. I'm sure he can do something, even if the Ministry is after him"

"Why?"

"The Ministry is the magical government. It isn't the brightest one, sadly. They don't want to accept the fact that Voldemort has returned. They think that Albus wants to become a minister himself, and call him crazy. Mr. Potter in the meantime is called a liar"

"Now for the other things. Your appearance seems human, but you will need to wear an eyepatch to cover your green eye."

"Is there any timeline where I can change my appearance?" Danny muttered.

"Yes, there are. You will go by the name 'Daniel Work' since it's my known last name between wizards. You will go buy supplies tomorrow. I can't go, sadly. My last visit was very long ago, I should be 'dead' by now. Take this," with that Clockwork gave his son a golden ring with a ruby on it. On the back side was written word 'Work'.

"This is a Works' lord ring. It will give you some privileges and reputation you might find useful."

"Wow. Thanks"

"No need to thank me. I believe you need to prepare for the trip, so good night"

"Good night, Dad!"

A.N. So here comes the first chapter of my crossover, what do you think?


	2. Chapter II: Shopping

A.N. I haven't read a book for a long time, so there will be some additions for now

Third person POV

It was a calm evening in Hogwarts, school of witchcraft and wizardry. But not for Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of this school and the leader of the Order of Phoenix. He was an old man in grey robes, with long beard and blue eyes, which had an unusual twinkle inside them. Currently Albus was walking through the huge stone corridors with two proffesors. One was a stern looking woman in green clothes and pointed hat you imagine every time, when someone says 'witch'. Another one was a man with greasy black hair, wearing black robes.

"Albus, is there really no better candidates?" The woman, Professor McGonagall asked.

"I'm afraid there is no choice, Minerva. Even if there were, Ministry would scare them away. Quite desperate, they are," answered headmaster as the twinkle in his eyes dimmed a little.

"Desperate? More like annoying," said Severus Snape, the one in black.

After saying the password, trio went into headmaster's office. It was a large and beautiful circular room, full of funny little noises. A number of curious silver instruments stood on spindle-legged tables, whirring and emitting little puffs of smoke. The walls were covered with portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses, all of whom were snoozing gently in their frames. There was also an enormous, claw-footed desk, and, sitting on a shelf behind it, a shabby, tainted wizard's hat — the Sorting Hat. It was a sight every of them got used to. However they did NOT expected someone to be here.

Near the desk was standing an old man in purple clothes. He hunched his shoulders and gripped his strange staff. All in all, he looked like he is going to fall on the floor at any moment. The elder had white beard, longer than Albus', and under mass of wrinkles you could see brown, reddish eyes, one of which was scarred. Still, he had some aura of power around him. Two professors took out their wands, but person just ignored them and started to talk in deep voice.

"Good evening, Albus. Long time no see," he smiled to the shocked headmaster.

"Charles? Is that really you?" Asked Dumbledore and gestured to his companions to low their 'weapons'.

"Yes, my friend, it's me. Quite homey place you have here"

"It's pleasure to meet you again, Charles. It has been a very long time. But, I believe it's not just a friendly visit"

"You are right, it isn't," he answered with a sigh. The conversation continued after everyone situated on their seats near the desk.

"I've heard about the whole Voldemort ordeal," said Charles, causing professors' eyes to widen at the calling Dark Lord by name, "and I wanted do discuss about it"

"Did you decide to join The Order?" Albus asked. He really hoped Charles would say yes. He is a very powerful wizard, Dumbledore learned that, when he met the man for the first time. Back then, Mr.Work defeated an army with a mere wave of a hand.

"I'm too old for another war, Albus," the man chuckled sadly, "but I have a request for you, and I need a little help"

"What is this request?" Dumbledore was very curious about it. Charles NEVER asked about something.

"I need you to accept my son to Hogwarts," answered Charles, causing Headmaster's eyes to widen in surprise.

"You...have a son?"

"Yes, I found Daniel nine years ago and raised him as my own. He has a big potential, maybe I will see the day, when his power will surpass my own," the guest smiled proudly, "I teached Daniel for some time myself, but I believe he will do better here"

"Of course, but how old is he?"

"The boy is fifteen. Now you see, what complications are"

"Yes, such things never happened in Hogwarts before, student starting the course in fifteen"

"Believe me, Albus, the ends will justify the means," with that Charles got up from his chair and stood in the middle of the room. With a twirl of his staff, he opened a blue portal. The old man then turned to the others.

"Just keep in mind that Daniel is very...peculiar child," and with that he went through the portal.

"Albus, who in the bloody hell was that man?" Asked Snape.

"This was Charles Work, an old friend of mine"

"Work? But...I thought there wasn't anyone left in their house?" Said Minerva confused.

"He is the last one, well, not now, when he has a son. I met Charles during Grindenvald ordeal and I completely trust him with my life"

"So we are going to accept some unknown boy during THIS?" Potions Master gestured to the window to emphasize his point.

"It's a hard time for all of us, Severus. Can't blame a father for teaching his child the defence"

"But what about the Ministry?"

"They will become suspicious about young Daniel. But Charles never advised me a bad thing, so it shouldn't be different now. Now about DADA professor...

-Next morning-

Danny woke up in a very good mood. He still remembered the conversation he had with Clockwork yesterday, and couldn't wait. After Phantom came out of the bathroom, he saw black and white clothes, hanging on the chair back. There was also a note. It said

'Dear Daniel

These are the clothes you will need to wear to blend in during your shopping trip. You better get used to them, since it will be your school uniform '

Danny took some time to look at his clothes. That were robes, pretty comfortable, he had to admit. As was said, they were mostly black, with white lines going between neck and wrists. And, of course, there was his silver emblem on the right side. Clockwork always knew what he needs - a little food for his ego.

Walking out of his room, Danny went straight to the kitchen. This room wasn't present before the boy came here for the first time. That's because Clockwork is one of the few ghosts who didn't need food AT ALL. Danny, however, wasn't. And since this tower is Time Master's realm, it wasn't too hard to add a new room. Kitchen wasn't big, it had fridge, oven, sink, table with a bunch of chairs. Deciding to test his telekinetic powers, Danny tried to make himself a bowl of cereal. It went very well, here is the bowl, the fruitloops are falling accurately, now only to add the milk...only to spoil it everywhere after hearing sudden bark.

"Cujo!" Danny shouted. From behind him came a small puppy with green fur and red eyes, who was currently having apologetic look on his face. Phantom found Cujo when he was eight, during one of his little journeys.

"Look what happened," Danny grumbled, letting the beverage fall through him.

"I'm sorry, Master, Clockwork said to get you," Cujo responded. While it may sound like a simple bark to the others, it's an understandable speech to Danny. He sighed.

"Fine, I'm coming"

Clockwork was already standing in his usual position in the main room.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your breakfast, Daniel, but you need to go now"

"So, where am I going?"

"You are going to Diagon Alley. I will make a portal, which will take you to London, near the place called 'Leaky Cauldron'. Don't be fooled by it's appearance. It may look like a building ready to crumble, but it's different on the inside. There you ask the barman named Tom, who will open you a door to the Alley. If he asks, why can't you open it yourself, say that your wand is in repair. By the way, no need to buy one, I already made it for you. Oh, here is the letter," Clockwork added and handed Danny a piece of paper.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,

Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Mr. Work,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Danny looked at the next page.

UNIFORM

You will require:

1\. Three sets of plain work robes (black)

2\. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

3\. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

4\. One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.

The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5 by Miranda Goshawk

Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard

OTHER EQUIPMENT

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set brass scales

You may also bring, if you desire, an owl OR a cat OR a toad.

"I believe you have questions?" Clockwork asked.

"Yeah, why is there so little number of books?"

"They believe I have teached you magic, so they give you only books you require this year. And don't worry about Cujo, he isn't usual dog, so there shouldn't be any problems," Danny nodded.

"Now for the money. There is a bank named Gringgots. You will find it easily. You need to come to the central desk and say that you want to make a withdrawal. Show the ring and you will be guided to your vault. You will take money there"

"Wow, you thought about everything," said Phantom as Clockwork opened the portal.

"I did"

-London-

The blue circle appeared in abandoned alleyway with dead end. Danny and Cujo wrinkled noses in disgust. They appeared near trash can, and Danny could swear that something moved inside it. When the group came on the street, they saw a usual crowded street. Danny was excited, he hasn't seen Human World in a long while. He almost forgotten how the sky looks like. That's why Danny just stared on it for a long while, getting some weird looks.

After snapping from his thoughts, young halfa started to look for this 'Leaky Cauldron'. It didn't take long. It looked like rundown building, ready to collapse, with a cauldron sign. It should be a trick. Danny was right. Inside it looked like a pub, because it was. Delisious smell made his stomach to grumble. He narrowed his eyes at his dog, who was wearing a blue collar, making him look like a usual Sen Bernard. Cujo just grinned apologetically.

If it wasn't for absence of money, Danny would sit to eat immediately. People around looked at him strangely. It's not like you can see a boy with black and white hair, wearing an eyepatch, everyday. But Danny didn't pay attention to them. He came to the bald man, who was cleaning metal mugs.

"Excuse me, sir, can I talk with you for a moment?" Phantom asked. Tom was surprised, since the boy looked very noble, and they usually aren't so polite. He then smiled.

"Of course, what can I do for you?"

"You see, my wand is currently in repair, but I need to get to Diagon Alley"

"Follow me, lad"

And Danny followed the man to the chilly courtyard. There were broken crates, barrels, scattered everywhere. He wanted to ask what next, but quickly closed his mouth. Better not to ask about everything. Tom took out his wand and made a few taps on certain bricks. In a split second, the wall splitted in two sides, revealing the Alley.

It was...an Alley. The most amazing one, for that matter. There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments Danny had never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes, tottering piles of spell books, quills, and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon and many other interesting things. Young Phantom started his search for wizarding bank.

"What do you think about this place, Cujo?"

"It's one of the most amazing things I've ever seen! Master, can we visit pet shop?"

"Why?"

"Maybe they have some magical treats for dogs," Danny laughed and promised to look there. AFTER breakfast.

It wasn't so hard to find Gringotts, as it stood in the middle of an alley. It was a snowy white building that towered over others. Little group went inside. There was a massive hall with high sets. What surprised Danny and Cujo were bankers. They were strange creatures with long ears. They seemed to be hard working, Phantom had to admit. Then he remembered, what his father said, and went to the central desk.

There were two people already. One was a woman in her midyears, another was a boy around Danny's age with slicked blond hair. He had this 'spoiled brat' air around him. Danny just stayed behind them, putting his hands behind his back and waiting for his turn. It was a surprise, when the creaure behind the desk started to talk with him.

"And who you might be?"

"Daniel Work, sir. I'd like to make a withdrawal", the hall became quiet. Everyone was too shocked about the fact, that there are still Work family members. He wasn't lying, goblins could sense even the most accurate lie.

"Do...do you have a key?" Asked goblin. Danny took off his ring and showed it to him. After some examining, he said.

"Follow me," and with that, the creature got down from his seat, revealing his small height. Danny started to follow, but was stopped by the woman's voice.

"Excuse me, young man. You don't mind if we go along?"

"Not at all, I could use some company, besides my dog. Say hello, Cujo," the puppy barked.

"Thank you, I'm Narcissa Malfoy, and this is my son Draco," at that the blond gave a hand for a handshake, which Danny took.

"I haven't seen you around before," said Draco as they all continued their way.

"Yes, I don't live around here. My father teached me the basical magic, but now he wants me to attend Hogwarts"

"Do you know which house you will be in?" In response Danny shrugged.

"No, I don't"

The group went to the strange transport. It was a cart on the rails with another goblin standing nearby.

"The dog must stay here," he squeaked. Danny raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"This thing is very fast," Draco answered. Danny looked at Cujo, who barked his agreement.

And blond was wrong. The cart was EXTREMELY fast. By the end of the ride Danny's already messy hair became even more shaggy. Now he understood, why Clockwork didn't let him eat. Danny would certainly throw up.

They were in a dark place. And very deep, judging by the length of the ride. Goblin took the lantern in his thin boney hands and led the group.

"Daniel, may I ask you a question?" Narcissa asked.

"As long as this isn't too personal," Danny answered.

"Your family dissapeared many years ago, why so?" Crap, think fast, think fast.

"My ancestor was searching for something, I don't know, what exactly"

"Mr.Work, come over here, please," goblin said.

"What is it?"

"It's very embarrassing, but we don't know, how to open this door, maybe you do?"

Danny looked at the giant metal door, trying to find any clue. Then his eyes fell on the hand shaped panel, hided in the hole. He put his hand inside and pressed the panel. Door opened immediately, maybe it was some kind of hand scanner. And...there is another smaller door with little circle hole. There wasn't any questions. Goblin put the ring into hole and turned it like a key. Everyone covered their eyes because of sudden light.

Danny has never seen so much money in his life. Huge mountains of gold, silver and bronze coins, ready to be taken. Judging from others' faces, they have never seen as well. Only goblin seemed unfazed. He coughed.

"Please, take what you need faster. We need to go"

Young Phantom grabbed a bunch of every kind of coins, when he noticed a small table with a note and small box. Danny read the note.

"Dear Daniel,

In this bag lies a special item, you were chosen to have. Bring it with you and don't reveal it to your current followers"

Danny wondered, what's inside the bag, but his father said not to open the package, so he wouldn't. A few minutes later, the group was already back in the cart. But they didn't go on the surface. Malfoys needed to go to their vault as well. It was higher, and light has returned. Phantom immediately felt the heat. Having ice core has pros and cons. You become immune to the extreme cold, but the heat becomes dangerous. Soon, he saw the reason of this temperature. A dragon. Danny should be afraid, but he only felt pity. The dragon had white scales, but most of them were missing. It's eyes were blind, if white eyes without pupils is any sign.

Inside the vault was huge amount of money, but not as big as in Danny's. However, it wasn't money, what got Phantom's attention. The moment he entered the vault, Danny got a feeling, similar to his ghost sence, only...hollow. The feeling was coming from golden cup, standing on pedestrial. He will need to ask Clockwork about that.

Some time later, they were coming out of Gringotts. It was nice to see the natural light again.

"Well, Daniel, it was nice to meet you," said Narcissa with smile.

"Likewise"

"Meet you in Hogwarts. Hope you will be in Slitherin," Draco said as they went in the opposite direction. Cujo then barked.

"Master, what do you think about them?"

"Narcissa seems very sincere, as for Draco...I don't know, I guess we will see. Alright, first stop - astronomy shop!"

-Sometime later-

Danny was carrying all the stuff in his cauldron. Besides school supplies, he bought a LOT of candies and some treats for Cujo. Everyone who looked at him were stunned by how easy Danny was carrying at least thirty kilos in one hand. After breakfast, pair went for the last things left - books. As on cue, Phantom saw 'Flourish and Blotts'. It was obviously the book shop.

Inside the building, the shelves were stacked to the ceiling with books as large as paving stones bound in leather; books the size of postage stamps in covers of silk; books full of peculiar symbols and a few books with nothing in them at all. An unmistakable smell of inks was in the air. After buying needed books, Danny looked around curiosly, stepping away from the CAGE with scary looking, growling BOOKS.

As he was studying some random book, Danny heard the shout.

"Look out!"

He immediately sidestepped and dodged falling books. There was a girl with brown hair and eyes, who was fussing maybe too much. Danny kneeled down and picked her books.

"I believe it's yours," he said with a chuckle.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I just didn't look where I was going"

"No worries, Daniel Work," Danny responded and shook her hand.

"Hermione Granger," she said with smile.

"'Mione, where are you?" They heard someone shout.

"Mione, huh?" Danny chuckled again as Hermione reddened. From behind the shelves came two boys. One was redhead, and the other... Danny stopped his eyes from widening. He saw this boy before. Harry Potter.

"Who are you?" The redhead asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I'm Danny, and you are..."

"Ron Weasley"

"Oh, and you must be Harry Potter. Nice to meet you," Danny said with smile. Everyone was surprised about his reaction. Not only he didn't freak out about meeting THE Harry Potter, Danny didn't call him a liar as everyone did so far.

"Jeez, you looked at me like I was going to bite you"

"Sorry, It's just that, no one reacted like you," Harry said.

"Oh, then I'm special, am I not?" Danny laughed, "I can relate after all, I almost gave goblins in Gringotts a heart attack, when I said that my last name is Work"

"What?! How is this..." Ron stuttered, but was interrupted by common laugh.

"You just proved my point, pal," Danny said, "It was nice to meet you guys, but I need to go. See ya!"

-Later-

It was only lunchtime, so Phantom was just wandering around the place. He saw a dark building, which was Ollivander's wand shop. Clockwork said not to try to buy a wand, but he didn't mention looking at them. Danny went inside.

There were boxes everywhere, probably with wands inside. In the center of the room was desk.

"Uh, hello?" Danny shouted, trying to call attention. Immediately, the old man appeared on the ladder near one of the shelves. He was eyeing Danny curiously. Ollivander smiled.

"Hm, I haven't seen you before. Are you new around here?" He said coming to the desk.

"Kinda"

"So what brings you to my shop? You are a little old to be a first year"

"Well, I have never seen a wand shop before. My Dad made one for me"

"Is that the one in this box of yours?"

"W-what?!" Ollivander chuckled.

"You can't hide a wand from wand maker, even if I wasn't the one to make it. May I have a look?" Danny thought about showing the box. Well, Clockwork said not to show it to Malfoys. He took it out from cauldron and opened it. There was indeed a wand. It was pitch black with green handle. Ollivander took it carefully.

"I have never seen such materials before," there was a huge surprise in his voice, "but it's very powerful, I can sense it. Have you used it before?"

"No, I haven't"

"Give it a wave then," he said handing Danny the wand. As Danny waved a hand, the waves of green light erupted from the tip of the wand.

"Wonderful! Indeed a perfect match!"

"What would happen if it wasn't?"

"The results are unpredictable. You could accidentally break a vase, start a mess, sending objects around flying, etcetera, etcetera"

"Oh," was Danny's intelligent response, "anyways, thanks for showing me the process"

"The pleasure is all mine, Mr..."

"Work," please, not again. Ollivander must have noticed his discomfort, so he didn't say anything about that.

"Well, Mr. Work, may I ask about a favor?"

"What kind?"

"I'm really curious about your wand materials. If it isn't a secret, I would really like to know"

"Alright, I'll ask Dad about it. Have a good day, Mr. Ollivander!"

-Lateeer-

Danny would love to explore the city of London during night, but, sadly, he needed to return. Coming back to the dead end he came through, Phantom started to wait for portal to open. And it did. Seconds later, a blue circle appeared and the boy and his dog stepped inside.

In the main room of clocktower Danny saw his father and another ghost he had never seen before. This ghost had pale skin, bright golden eyes, with a long white beard. He was dressed in blue robes with half moons and was wearing the same blue pointed hat. Phantom could sense another ghosts power, and this guy was just a little weaker than Clockwork.

"Hey, Dad, who is this guy?" Danny asked. The new ghost smiled warmly.

"Hello, young man," he said with old british accent, "your father asked me to teach you the first four years of magic and that's why I'm here. My name is Merlin, you probably heard about my deeds when I was alive," Danny's eyes widened in shock. Merlin, THE Merlin is going to be his teacher!

"You will get the books for first four years from the Ghostwriter," said Clockwork," I will take care about other things. And you need to use your duplication ability to learn everything till the end of summer"

"Awesome!"

A.N. As I said, I haven't read OoTP in a long while, plus I don't remember anything interesting happening in Diagon Alley, so I made everything myself.


	3. Chapter III: The Train

A.N. Hey, guys, I just wanted to say, that after chapter is done, I publish it, then replace it with fixed one.

Third person POV

Somewhere in Wiltshire was a huge building. It had cobblestone walls, and had a few towers with dark roof. That was a home of ancient and wealthy house of Malfoys. It was a late evening right now and owners of this place were sitting in the dining room and having dinner.

"How did your trip go?" Asked the head of the family. He had the same blond hair as his son, grey eyes and pale skin.

"It went as usual," Narcissa answered, "until we met one peculiar boy," Lucius raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I'm sure he will be all over the news soon. 'The Works' house has returned'," she said. The eldest Malfoy wasn't expecting that.

"Are...are you sure the boy is Work?"

"Yes, he had The Lord ring, and goblins confirmed what he said," Draco answered, "It's strange, though, Daniel mentioned his father, but HE is the Lord"

"His father must have passed the rights to him. The question is, why is...Daniel...here?"

"He said that he is going to Hogwarts, even though he is fifteen"

"Hmm, Our Lord would be very interested. Have you talked to him?"

"Daniel mentioned, that Works disappeared, because they searched for some artifact. Why are they so famous, anyway?" Draco asked.

"Work is one of the most ancient houses in the world. It's members are known to be very powerful, one of them knew Merlin personally. Works are fabled to have an ability to control the time," Lucius answered,"I believe, you need to befriend this boy. He might be very useful for our cause"

-At the meantime-

Tucked away in northwestern London, a twenty minute walk from King's Cross Station, lies number twelve, Grimmauld Place. Both Unplottable and hidden behind a Fidelius Charm, the house is invisible to all but a few. Though the neighbouring Muggles don't even know the building exists, it was for many years home to the Black family — one of the wizarding world's oldest pureblood families, and extremely proud to be so.

Now it became the secret headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, organization, created to stop Voldemort by all the means. There was another meeting planned this evening and members arrived one by one. Currently, they were all sitting in the kitchen.

It was below the ground floor and accessed through a narrow staircase at the end of the entry hallway. The kitchen was a cavernous room with a large fireplace at one end and a large wooden table in the centre with chairs on either side. There was also a large pantry for food and other items. The kitchen also contained several cabinets lining the walls and a window looking into another section of the house. The material of the floor is undefinable, but light in colour, maybe wood or a some type of marble.

"So, Umbridge?" Asked the man with shaggy black hair.

"Yes, Sirius, Ministry 'offers' me her candidature," said Dumbledore, "I'm not very thrilled about this fact. Her pureblood ideals is already something to be weary of"

"I have met her once," said Arthur Weasley, "she can't be allowed near children!"

"There is nothing we can do about it, sadly"

"And what about this Work lad?" Asked Alastor. He had one leg and one eye, he lost the others because of his former auror occupation.

"Oh, this is all over the news now," said Remus Lupin, showing Daily Prophet's front page. There was a photo of a young boy, standing near Gringotts central desk. Who made the picture is still a mystery.

"So that's how he looks like," said Albus.

"Why in the bloody hell he wears an eyepatch?"

"Maybe by the same reason you have an artificial eye, Alastor!" Said Molly, her maternal nature coming into play. Everyone present was deep in thoughts, thinking about what the kid has gone through.

-Ghost Zone, 1st September-

Danny has gone through a lot. Merlin was a very strict teacher, but both he and his student were enthusiastic. Teacher because he hasn't taught anyone in a very long while and because his student was THE Phantom. Danny was just eager to learn about magical arts.

As Clockwork said, they used duplication technique. While one duplicate was making some potion in the cauldron, another was learning how to move mandragora. There was a disadvantage, though. Too much information was very painful for brain to absorb. So, after studying, Danny went to bed to make headache gone. That is, if there wasn't much 'homework'. It sounds ironical when you are homeschooled.

"I really enjoyed teaching you, young Phantom," said Merlin. Danny smiled.

"Thank you, sir"

"Maybe we will meet again, but that's goodbye for now," ancient wizard nodded and dissappeared in a cloud of smoke. Unlike Danny's teleportation, Merlin used magic, creating a loud noise.

"Daniel, have you packed your luggage?" Clockwork asked, smirking slightly.

"Crap! I forgot!" With that Phantom ran to pack his things, causing Time Master to chuckle.

A few minutes later Danny returned, carrying his belongings. Once in the main room, he blinked in surprise at what he saw.

"Not fair! You can change appearance!" Shouted Phantom, looking at Charles Work.

"I believe it's time for us to go," Danny started to walk to the opened portal, when he abruptly stopped.

"Us?"

"What parent would I be if I didn't accompain my son to his first year of school?" Now Charles smiled warmly. His son returned the smile.

They came out near King's Cross station and walked inside. Danny wondered, how is he going to get to the Hogwarts. But as usual...

"Look at the ticket I gave you," Clockwork said. Phantom took it out and examined it.

"Eh, Dad, what does 'Platform 9 3/4' mean?"

"That it should be between platforms nine and ten. Watch," he pointed his staff on the group of people in robes, who went THROUGH the wall.

"H-how did they..."

"Magic, Daniel, magic. Just go through and don't use intangibility"

As Clockwork said, Phantom ran into the wall. In the last moment he closed his eye, reading for impact. But it never came. Danny started to look around in amazement. The building itself wasn't so different, except for light. It felt kinda magical. And on the rails was red and black train right from Victorian Era with inscription 'Hogwarts Express'. Phantom was snapped out of his thoughts by his father's hand on his shoulder.

"The train is going to depart in sixteen minutes and thirty three seconds. I believe it's time for you to go," after that Danny enveloped Clockwork in a big hug.

"Bye, Dad. See you soon"

Danny went to take a seat on the train and didn't hear his father saying 'Sooner than you may think, young Phantom'.

-On the train-

Danny and Cujo found an empty compartment and sat there. After some time, the train started it's way. Phantom was currently reading a newspaper with his pet sleeping on his lap. Clockwork wasn't exaggerating, when he said about Harry Potter and Dumbledore. It was dripping with venom, when their names were even mentioned. And seeing that the most sellable newspaper of the wizarding world is controlled by the government... It never ends well. Danny missed the edition for sometime ago, when he was mentioned and a lot of speculations were made. Some of them weren't as pleasant as others.

Suddenly, the compartment's door opened, revealing a girl with dirty-blond hair and pale eyes. She was a year younger than Danny, was wearing a necklace of Butterbeer corks.

"Do you mind, if I sit here?" The girl asked in a dreamy voice.

"Not at all," Phantom answered.

"Thank you," she said and sat on the seat across from him, "are you Daniel Work?" Danny wasn't expecting that. After his slow nod she explained.

"You were all over the news, no one has seen Works in decades," Phantom chuckled.

"You know my name, but I don't know yours"

"I'm Luna Lovegood. Do you know, that dogs aren't allowed to Hogwarts?"

"Me and Cujo are unseparable," answered Danny, stroking puppy's chin. After this Luna took out some magazine called 'Quibbler'.

"Eh, do you know you are reading it upside down?"

"I do"

For a while it was quiet in the compartment. Until the doors opened again, revealing a group of three people. The redhead girl, some boy with round and shy face, there was also Harry Potter. The redhead spoke up.

"Do you mind, if we seat here?"

"Nope," said Danny as he put the newspaper down, revealing his face, "Hello again, Harry"

"Danny?" Harry asked surprised after everyone situated on their seats, "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I haven't told you, huh? I'm going to attend Hogwarts, starting from fifth year"

"Where were you studying before?" The girl asked.

"I wasn't studying anywhere. I just learned first four years' course during summer," everyone, besides Luna, stared at him in shock.

"Looks like there will be a new Ravenclaw," said the readhead.

"I wouldn't be so sure, I mean, Hermione is in Griffindor," the boy said.

"Where are your friends anyway, Harry?" Asked Phantom.

"They went to prefects' carriage," he answered sadly. Danny decided to change the topic of conversation.

"You know, I'm a new around here, and people keep saying something about the houses, can you tell me about it?" In reality, Phantom knew about them, he read 'Hogwarts. The history' during breaks, "But first, what are your names, guys?" He added, turning to the unknown students.

"I'm Ginny Weasley" said the redhead.

"I'm nobody," said the boy.

"No you're not," said Ginny sharply. "This is Neville Longbottom"

"So, about houses..."

"There are four houses in Hogwarts," Harry started to tell, "Griffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slitherin," he said the last one as it was covered in venom,"your house is chosen by your personality. Ravenclaw is for intelligent people. 'Puffs are loyal and forgiving bunch. Griffindor students are brave and sometimes hotheaded. And Slitherin is for cunning and ambitious. Most of the dark wizards are from there"

"Hm, like Voldemort?" Danny asked. Everyone's eyes were ready to jump out of their orbits. Except Luna's, "It's just a name, for Ancient's sake! It can't kill or do anything," he added.

Everyone was shaken out of stupor, when compartment's door opened yet again. There was an old lady with a cart full of sweets. Even Cujo woke up because of the smell.

"Anything from the cart, dears?" She asked.

"I will take a little of everything. My treat guys," Phantom said, taking out a bunch of galleons.

-Laaateeer-

The group had finished their pumpkin pasties and were busy swapping Chocolate Frog Cards when the compartment door slid open and Ron and Hermione walked in, accompanied by Crookshanks and a shrilly hooting Pigwidgeon in his cage.

"I'm starving," said Ron, stowing Pigwidgeon next to Hedwig, grabbing a Chocolate Frog from Harry and throwing himself into the seat next to him. He ripped open the wrapper, bit off the frog's head and leaned back with his eyes closed as though he had had a very exhausting morning.

"Wow, harsh," the two prefects noticed the familiar boy with an eyepatch. Before they could say anything, Danny retold them all the stuff. Hermione, of course, was amazed at his learning ability. For that he just said that he had a very good teacher. The company then just talked about their own things, until Ron noticed what Danny was reading.

"Are you reading the Prophet?!" He almost shouted. Still, it was way too loud for half-ghost's sensitive hearing.

"Yep, waste of paper, it is, but I don't have anything else to read"

"You can take mine, if you want," said Luna.

"Oh, thanks a lot," said Phantom, taking The 'Quibbler'. Now he understands, what Ron meant, calling this magazine a junk. But, it was an interesting junk, so Danny continued to read it.

Then door opened AGAIN, and there was standing Draco and his friends/bodyguards.

"What?" Harry said aggressively, before Malfoy could open his mouth.

"Manners, Potter, or I'll have to give you a detention," drawled Malfoy, whose sleek blond hair and pointed chin were just like his father's. "You see, I, unlike you, have been made a prefect, which means that I, unlike you, have the power to hand out punishments."

"Yeah," said Harry, "but you, unlike me, are a git, so get out and leave us alone"

Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville laughed. Malfoy's lip curled.

"Tell me, how does it feel being second-best to Weasley, Potter?" he asked.

"Shut up, Malfoy," said Hermione sharply.

"I seem to have touched a nerve," said Malfoy, smirking. "Well, just watch yourself, Potter, because I'll be dogging your footsteps in case you step out of line"

"Hey, how can a fellow like me read in such conditions?" Phantom revoved the magazine which was hiding his face. Draco was stunned, realizing he was caught, "Oh, hello, Draco, may I ask, why are you insulting my friends?"

"I...sorry" with that Slytherins walked away. Everyone was just staring at the place, where Malfoy was standing and on the person who sent him away with one simple phrase. And Danny noticed that.

"Yes, I know him. I met him at Gringotts and no, I don't know why Draco went away so fast," he answered the questions before they were asked. Then Phantom continued to read the article 'SECRETS OF THE ANCIENT RUINS REVEALED'.

-Laaater-

At last, the train began to slow down and the group heard the usual racket up and down it as everybody scrambled to get their luggage and pets assembled, ready for departure. Ron and Hermione were supposed to supervise all this; they disappeared from the carriage again, leaving Danny and the others to look after Crookshanks and Pigwidgeon.

On the outside, a brisk female voice was calling out, "First years line up over here, please! All first years to me!"

A lantern came swinging towards Harry and by its light he saw the prominent chin and severe haircut of Professor Grubbly-Plank, the witch who had taken over Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures lessons for a while the previous year.

Harry was surprised by that, and shared his concerns with his company.

"Who is Hagrid?" Asked Danny, accidentally overhearing the conversation. Can you blame a guy who has superhearing?

"Hagrid is Hogwarts' keeper of keys and Care of The Magical Creatures professor. He usually takes the first years to the castle, but he isn't here," Hermione answered. Then Professor Grubbly-Plank came out of nowhere.

"Mr. Work, you are coming with the first years," she said.

Danny just shrugged and said a few 'see you later'. He was led to the lake's coast, where bunch of eleven years old kids were talking with each other, throwing him confused glances. Danny sat with two boys in a boat, and his way to the Hogwarts officially began.

A.N. I might have taken a few descriptions from HP wiki. I already have house in mind. As for pairing, I'm not sure yet.


	4. Chapter IV: Sorting

There was one thing Danny was sure about, Hogwarts founders certainly knew, how to make first impression. Seriously, when you approach the castle on a boat, you can't help but be amazed at the sight. It was huge, with high towers, rising above ground. Yes, Phantom lived in a clocktower from another dimension, but this castle felt different. With his eyes glued to the Hogwarts, Danny didn't notice, how boats arrived to some kind of docks.

Phantom never liked stairs, and now he needed to go through this suffering. And after some time Danny was standing in front of giant oak doors, when stern looking woman in green robes arrived.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rulebreaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

Danny just stood there, having nothing better to do. He picked Cujo from the ground and started petting his friend. Suddenly, some first year girl asked question.

"Excuse me, Mr, why are you here?" Danny smiled.

"It's my first time here, just like you. I'm just going to start from fifth year"

"Is this a puppy?", "He is so cute!", "Can I pet him?", kids started to ask questions non stop.

"Look, Cujo, someone is popular," said Phantom, earning happy bark from puppy.

"What can I say? I like attention," Cujo responded.

"How do you think we will be sorted?" Someone asked.

"My brother said there will be a dragon!" Danny laughed at that.

"Really? I haven't fought with one since the last time no one invited Dora on a dance!" Soon-to-be students had stars in their eyes.

"Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."

Professor McGonagall had returned.

"Now, form a line," she told the first years, "and follow me."

The Great Hall was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the students up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Danny looked upward and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. Everyone saw an old torn hat, lying on the stool.

The whole school waited with bated breath. Then the rip near the hat's brim opened wide like a mouth and the Sorting Hat burst into song:

In times of old when I was new

And Hogwarts barely started

The founders of our noble school

Thought never to be parted:

United by a common goal,

They had the selfsame yearning,

To make the world's best magic school

And pass along their learning.

'Together we will build and teach!'

The four good friends decided

And never did they dream that they

Might some day be divided,

For were there such friends anywhere

As Slytherin and Gryffindor?

Unless it was the second pair

Of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw?

So how could it have gone so wrong?

How could such friendships fail?

Why, I was there and so can tell

The whole sad, sorry tale.

Said Slytherin, 'We'll teach just those

Whose ancestry is purest.'

Said Ravenclaw, 'We'll teach those whose

Intelligence is surest. '

Said Gryffindor, 'We'll teach all those

With brave deeds to their name, '

Said Hufflepuff, 'I'll teach the lot,

And treat them just the same. '

These differences caused little strife

When first they came to light,

For each of the four founders had

A house in which they might

Take only those they wanted, so,

For instance, Slytherin

Took only pure-blood wizards

Of great cunning, just like him,

And only those of sharpest mind

Were taught by Ravenclaw

While the bravest and the boldest

Went to daring Gryffindor.

Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest,

And taught them all she knew,

Thus the houses and their founders

Retained friendships firm and true.

So Hogwarts worked in harmony

For several happy years,

But then discord crept among us

Feeding on our faults and fears.

The houses that, like pillars four,

Had once held up our school,

Now turned upon each other and,

Divided, sought to rule.

And for a while it seemed the school

Must meet an early end,

What with duelling and with fighting

And the clash of friend on friend

And at last there came c morning

When old Slytherin departed

And though the fighting then died out

He left us quite downhearted.

And never since the founders four

Were whittled down to three

Have the houses been united

As they once were meant to be.

And now the Sorting Hat is here

And you all know the score:

I sort you into houses

Because that is what I'm for,

But this year I'll go further,

Listen closely to my song:

Though condemned I am to split you

Still I worry that it's wrong,

Though I must fulfil my duty

And must quarter every year

Still I wonder whether Sorting

May not bring the end I fear.

Oh, know the perils, read the signs,

The warning history shows,

For our Hogwarts is in danger

From external, deadly foes

And we must unite inside her

Or we'll crumble from within

I have told you, I have warned you ...

Let the Sorting now begin.

Danny put the singing hat in his own top 10 of weirdest things. Not on the first place, thugh, he has seen weirder. With a last frowning look that swept the loud house tables, Professor McGonagall lowered her eyes to her long piece of parchment.

"We are going to start from exchange student. Daniel Work"

With that Danny went over to the stool and sat on it. Professor placed the hat on his head. It was quiet for some time, before the Hat said.

"Mr. Work, may I ask, where have you learned such strong Occlumency shields?" Everyone was shocked by this information.

"My Dad taught me"

"Can you please low them, so I can sort you?" Phantom did as was told.

"Merlin!" Hat shouted. It was the first time anyone saw the Hat shocked. And it was disturbing to say the least.

'I apologize, ' Danny heard the voice in his head, 'Ministry demanded from Headmaster and me to tell about you out loud. Don't worry, your secrets are safe with me'

"You are very peculiar person, Mr. Work," said Hat, "I have never seen such mind as yours before. You fit perfectly in every of four houses. All the traits are present in you"

"You are brave, incredibly so. You went against people, who were much stronger than you, without a second of doubt. Your chivalry ideals are something to be proud about. Even if you think that chivalry is dead," the Hat chuckled quietly at his 'dead' pun," You always stood for what you believe in, no matter against who and has gone through a lot. Yes, Griffindor will do well for you"

"There are Hufflepuff traits. You are loyal to the people you care about, however, people need to work to gain your trust. But you have a very forgiving nature, you are willing to give everyone a second chance, since you were gifted with one yourself. And it helped certain people to step on a right path, such as Dorathea. Hufflepuffs will welcome you with open hands"

"Now for the Ravenclaw. Very bright person, you are. You have learned four years of magic in two months, even if you used an unusual method and had a very unusual teacher. And back home, you are known for your witty character and creativity. But you learn only what you want to, not what you need to"

"And finally Slytherin. You are cunning, since that's what helped you to defeat your enemies. You strongly believe, that the ends justify all the means. There are pages in your life you aren't very proud of, but everything you have done was for the better good of people around you. You also did whatever you need to survive, be it lying, manipulating or disobeying rules. Ambitious you are, that is undoubtful"

'It's really hard to make a decision,' said Hat telepathically, 'But I think I know, where to put you. As you can guess, the houses are against each other, which is unacceptable in such times. YOU, Mr. Phantom can be the one to unite the students, so you better be..."

"SLYTHERIN!" The Hat shouted.

Minerva took it off from Danny's head and he went over to his table. With a corner of his eye, Phantom glanced at his friends at the Griffindor table. Hermione and Harry looked at him sadly, while Ron narrowed his eyes. That was expected, Danny saw, what opinion the trio had about Slytherins. He will need to talk with them later.

Phantom saw that the only free seat was near Malfoy's company. Danny cursed his luck, but kept neutral look on his face, sitting at the table. Everyone around didn't pay attention to the rest of the sorting, eyeing the mysterious student. Not only he kept the Hat out, but whatever it saw, it must be something scary. Then Draco broke the silence.

"I want to apologize for my rude behavior before, I shouldn't have insulted your friends," everyone blinked at his nice tone. Phantom chuckled.

"You heard the Hat, I have a thing for second chances," he said. He might not like this guy, but better not to antagonize his housemates. Then Professor Dumbledore rose to his feet.

"To our newcomers," said Dumbledore in a ringing voice, his arms stretched wide and a beaming smile on his lips, "welcome! To our old hands, welcome back! There is a time for speech-making, but this is not it. Tuck in!"

There was an appreciative laugh and an outbreak of applause as Dumbledore sat down neatly and threw his long beard over his shoulder so as to keep it out of the way of his plate, for food had appeared out of nowhere, so that the five long tables were groaning under joints and pies and dishes of vegetables, bread and sauces and flagons of pumpkin juice.

Across Danny, Draco's bodyguards weren't eating, they were devouring the food. Phantom tried not to look at them and continued to eat delicious dinner. He put a little of everything on his plate and was looking curiosly at the orange drink.

"What is that?" Danny asked Draco. He raised an eyebrow.

"That? This is pumpkin juice, haven't you seen it before?"

"No, I prefer something else," Phantom took out a black flask and poured red drink into his glass. Glowberry wine, juice for ghosts, knockdown alcohol for humans. For Danny it's alcohol only in big portions. It tasted a bit like cherry, though.

"Who wants some?" He said after taking a sip. Malfoy noticed slight smirk on his face. His henchmen, however, did not.

"Oh, I'd like to!" They said in unison. Danny poured the wine into the duo's glasses.

They drank the whole stuff in one blow. Grave mistake. Crabbe and Goyle dropped their heads on the table, unconscious. Everyone's eyes widened.

"Looks like it's pretty strong for them," Phantom said, taking another sip,"does anyone know a spell to wake them up?"

-Latttteeer-

It was almost the end of dinner, when Danny' ghost sense went off. People around noticed the blue mist, coming out of his mouth.

"What is that?" Draco asked.

"Ghosts," was Phantom's blunt answer. Second later they appeared. Danny felt that their power was very small. Clockwork told Danny about them. Existing in the Human world, they didn't have contact with ectoplasm, that's why only fellow ghosts can touch them. Poltergeists are different story. They replaced ectoplasm with human's emotions. So, none of them heard about the Ghost Zone and about Phantom. It was a surprise for Danny, when ghosts floated to him.

"Good evening, young man," said Sir Nicholas, "how do you like Hogwarts so far?"

"It's very nice. But why such interest in my opinion?"

"You are the first exchange student in this school, so of course we are interested!" Answered Fat Friar.

When all the students had finished eating and the noise level in the Hall was starting to creep upwards again, Dumbledore got to his feet once more. Talking ceased immediately as all turned to face the Headmaster.

"Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices," said Dumbledore. "First-years ought to know that the Forest in the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, and a few of our older students ought to know by now, too."

He then told about Mr. Filch's list of rules, hanging on his door. Janitor with an office, that's new. Also Dumbledore explained replacements in the staff.

"Tryouts for the house Quidditch teams will take place on the..."

Headmaster was interrupted by loud 'Hem, hem'. The source of this sound was a woman. She was squat, with short, curly, mouse-brown hair in which she had placed a horrible pink Alice band that matched the fluffy pink cardigan she wore over her robes. Her face reminded Danny about toad.

"Thank you, Headmaster," Professor Umbridge simpered, "for those kind words of welcome"

Her voice was high-pitched, breathy and little-girlish.

"Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say!" She smiled, revealing very pointed teeth. "And to see such happy little faces looking up at me!"

Danny glanced around. None of the faces he could see looked happy. On the contrary, they all looked rather taken-aback at being addressed as though they were five years old.

"I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!"

Somehow, Danny doubted that.

-Lattterrr-

Students started to go to their dorms. There was a problem, though. Crabbe and Goyle were still unconscious, so Phantom levitated them to their dorms with Wingardium leviosa. Slytherin dorms were based in dungeons.It was dark, cold, with green color everywhere. For Danny it was very homey. Placing henchmen on the sofa, he went to bed, Cujo following behind.


	5. Chapter V: The Toad

-Griffindor tower, after feast-

"That was weird," said Hermione as she and her friends arrived to their common room. It is full of squashy armchairs, tables, and a bulletin board where school notices, ads, lost posters, etc. can be posted. The common room is decorated in several shades of red, which is associated with the house. The common room is comfortable, but not more comfortable than the Hufflepuff basement.There are many windows that look out onto the grounds of the school, and a large fireplace dominates one wall. The mantle of the fireplace is adorned with a portrait of a lion. The walls are decorated with scarlet tapestries that depict witches and wizards, but also various animals. There are also bookcases located in the room, filled with various novels.

"Why did Hat told about Danny out loud? It has never done that before" she continued.

"I'm more worried about why it reacted like that. It can't be just his 'peculiar personality'," said Harry. He was still sad that Danny was in rival house. Which also confused him, this guy didn't seem like a type.

"And now he is stinking snake," muttered Ron angrily.

"Ron! If he is in Slytherin doesn't mean he is evil!" Hermione exclaimed. Suddenly they were greeted by two identical boys with red hair, who were two years older than them.

"Well, evil or not..." started the first one.

"We are going to find out what's in this flask of his," finished the second.

"What flask?" Harry asked.

"He drank something from it..."

"And nothing happened. But when he gave it to Crabbe and Goyle..."

"They are out cold"

"Do you think he will share the recipe?" Asked one from another.

"It will be a great addition for our shop!" with that they went somewhere minding their own business.

"See, Ron?" Said Hermione with triumphant tone.

-Slytherin homeroom, morning-

Danny slept like dead, pun intended. It was a very exhausting day yesterday. So, he currently was lying on his comfy bed, while everyone else was preparing for the day. Some second year student was curious about an eyepatch Danny was sleeping with. And not only him. So, he was dared to take it off during Phantom's sleep. Ghosts didn't need to sleep, but then again, halfas are only half ghosts. Danny still slept, but his instincts did not.

When student stretched his hand to take an eyepatch, Danny suddenly grabbed it and his eye snapped open. Needless to say that student was mentally scarred for life. It was exaggeration, of course, but poor guy was still scared out of his mind. Phantom took some time to recognize his surroundings, remembering where he is now. Then Danny noticed that he was holding someone's hand.

"You tried to take it off, didn't you?" He deadpanned. The student nodded slowly, still terrified. Phantom sighed.

"Believe me, you don't want to see, what's under it," he said loudly, making sure everyone around heard him, and letting the boy go.

Finally getting up, Danny took on his black and white robes, then he left for breakfast. The Great Hall was already full of people, some of them were looking at him with curiosity. Phantom was confused.

"Hey, Cujo, why do you think they are looking at me?"

"Some first years told everyone, that you fought with a dragon," Danny turned around and saw two boys older than him. For that little time he was in Hogwarts, Phantom heard about infamous Weasley twins.

"Hello there, I'm Fred"

"And I'm George"

"Danny. Nice to meet you," said Phantom, shaking hands with twins.

"We wanted to talk with you about something"

"Can you tell us about this stuff you gave to Malfoy's goons?" Danny shrugged.

"This is juice, made from berry, growing at my home. Knocks out everyone, who tries to drink it, besides me, strangely"

"Can we get some?"

"Why?"

"You see..."

"We are planning on opening the shop..."

"Where people can buy the stuff for pranking..."

"And you want to add the juice to your collection," Danny finished, realizing what redheads meant, "I will ask to send me a box of berries, but I want something in exchange. I want to be the first to try your new stuff. Give me it and we have a deal," twins looked at each other and grinned.

"Agreed!" With that Weasley shook hands with Phantom. Everyone's, including professors' at the Head Table, eyes widened in horror at the twins' new partner in crime.

-Llllater-

Danny was finishing his breakfast, when Professor Snape passed him his schedule. Phantom took a good look on it.

"Hm, looks like we should head to Herbology, Cujo"

"Pleaase, no, my ears are still hurt from summer!" The dog complained, causing his master to laugh. This in turn, caused students around to look at him weirdly.

"It's your fault, pal. You shouldn't have approached that mandragora"

Greenhouse was what it is. A greenhouse. Long building made entirely from glass, full of different plants. There was a tropical climate, wet and hot. But Clockwork knew about this, so Danny's robes kept halfa in cool temperature. In the greenhouse three, where the lesson was taught, were huge vines, hanging from the roof, and Venomous Tentacula in the special classroom. It was a living plant, which tried to bite everyone passing by. Except Danny, it just ignored him. Looks like it doesn't like carrion.

"Good evening students!" Shouted Professor Sprout, dumpy little witch, in a very positive tone, "Let me personally welcome you in your new year at Hogwarts. As you know, this year you are going to have an O.W.L. exam. So, we are going to recall everything we have learned during first four years of study. Let's start from mandragora"

"NOOOO!" Cujo howled.

"Mr. Work, what is your dog doing here?" Asked Professor, as puppy started to cry in his dog way.

"I'm sorry, Cujo has a bad experience with mandragora. You can wait in the homeroom, pal," at that puppy happily ran outside.

-Laterrrr-

The next lesson were Potions with Professor Snape. From what Danny heard, the guy was a fruitloop to anyone, who wasn't in Slytherin, especially Potter. To his house he was actually nice. Potions lessons took place down in one of the dungeons. It was colder here than up in the main castle, to Phantom's joy, and would have been quite creepy enough without the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls.

"Settle down," said Snape coldly, shutting the door behind him.

There was no real need for the call to order; the moment the class had heard the door close, quiet had fallen and all fidgeting stopped. Snape's mere presence was usually enough to ensure a class's silence.

"Before we begin today's lesson," said Snape, sweeping over to his desk and staring around at them all, "I think it appropriate to remind you that next June you will be sitting an important examination, during which you will prove how much you have learned about the composition and use of magical potions. Moronic though some of this class undoubtedly are, I expect you to scrape an "Acceptable" in your OWL, or suffer my ... displeasure"

His gaze lingered this time on Neville, who gulped.

"After this year, of course, many of you will cease studying with me," Snape went on. "I take only the very best into my NEWT Potions class, which means that some of us will certainly be saying goodbye."

"Today we will be mixing a potion that often comes up at Ordinary Wizarding Level: the Draught of Peace. Instructions are on the board"

Danny had a hard time making the potion. It demanded a lot of concentration. The ingredients had to be added to the cauldron in precisely the right order and quantities; the mixture had to be stirred exactly the right number of times, firstly in clockwise, then in anti-clockwise directions; the heat of the flames on which it was simmering had to be lowered to exactly the right level for a specific number of minutes before the final ingredient was added. But nothing was impossible for a student of Merlin.

"A light silver vapour should now be rising from your potion," called Snape, with ten minutes left to go.

As Professor said, there was a vapour coming from Danny's cauldron. Looking around, he noticed, that only he and Hermione succeeded. When she looked at him, Phantom flashed her a smile of congratulation, which she returned. But Snape looked only at one student. He started to humiliate Harry as much as possible, which caused Danny's eye to flash green for a mere moment. That happens only when he is really angry.

"Excuse me, Professor, but it's hard not to skip some lines. We could use a little more light here," Phantom turned snarky mode on.

"I beg your pardon?" Snape asked.

"I said it's too dark around here," while Professor looked annoyed, Harry was relieved. Everyone else was shocked, that someone stood against THE Severus Snape.

"The only thing saving you from detention, Mr. Work, is your well made potion"

"Thank you," Snape misinterpreted the meaning of this words and hadn't payed attention to them.

-Llaterr-

There was a Charms lesson after Potions. Nothing interesting, besides the book flying out of the window. Danny earned his house a few points, and freaking out everyone around with his green colored spells. Every of them.

But the worst was ahead. When Danny entered the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom he found Professor Umbridge already seated at the teachers desk, wearing the fluffy pink cardigan of the night before and the black velvet bow on top of her head. Danny was again reminded forcibly of a large fly perched unwisely on top of an even larger toad.

The class was quiet as it entered the room; Professor Umbridge was, as yet, an unknown quantity and nobody knew how strict a disciplinarian she was likely to be.

"Well, good afternoon!" she said, when finally the whole class had sat down.

A few people mumbled 'good afternoon' in reply.

"Tut, tut," said Professor Umbridge. "That won't do, now, will it? I should like you, please, to reply "Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge". One more time, please. Good afternoon, class!"

Danny was still quiet. He fought with gods, compared to that, pink toad in front of him is nothing.

"There, now," said Professor Umbridge sweetly, "That wasn't too difficult, was it? Wands away and quills out, please"

After that followed a very boring explanation. Phantom missed DADA teached by Merlin. There he could actually learn how to fight, dueling with an ancient wizard. Of course, Merlin was holding back, but still. That's why Danny neglected reading the book. Then Hermione raised her hand. Umbridge noticed, more like stopped ignoring her only a few minutes later.

"Did you want to ask something about the chapter, dear?" she asked Hermione, as though she had only just noticed her.

"Not about the chapter, no," said Hermione.

"Well, we're reading just now," said Professor Umbridge, showing her small pointed teeth. "If you have other queries we can deal with them at the end of class."

"I've got a query about your course aims," said Hermione.

Professor Umbridge raised her eyebrows.

"And your name is?"

"Hermione Granger," said Hermione.

"Well, Miss Granger, I think the course aims are perfectly clear if you read them through carefully," said Professor Umbridge in a voice of determined sweetness.

"Well, I don't," said Hermione bluntly. "There's nothing written up there about using defensive spells"

There was a short silence in which many members of the class turned their heads to frown at the three course aims still written on the blackboard.

"Using defensive spells?" Professor Umbridge repeated with a little laugh. "Why, I can't imagine any situation arising in my classroom that would require you to use a defensive spell, Miss Granger. You surely aren't expecting to be attacked during class?"

"We're not going to use magic?" Ron exclaimed loudly.

"Students raise their hands when they wish to speak in my class, Mr..."

"Weasley," said Ron, thrusting his hand into the air.

Professor Umbridge, smiling still more widely, turned her back on him. Harry and Hermione immediately raised their hands too. Professor Umbridge's pouchy eyes lingered on Harry for a moment before she addressed Hermione.

"Yes, Miss Granger? You wanted to ask something else?"

"Yes," said Hermione. "Surely the whole point of Defence Against the Dark Arts is to practise defensive spells?"

"Are you a Ministry-trained educational expert, Miss Granger?" asked Professor Umbridge, in her falsely sweet voice.

"No, but..."

"Well then, I'm afraid you are not qualified to decide what the "whole point" of any class is. Wizards much older and cleverer than you have devised our new programme of study. You will be learning about defensive spells in a secure, risk-free way..."

"What use is that?" said Harry loudly. "If we're going to be attacked, it won't be in a..."

"Hand,Mr Potter!" sang Professor Umbridge.

Harry thrust his fist in the air. Again, Professor Umbridge promptly turned away from him, but now several other people had their hands up, too.

"And your name is?" Professor Umbridge said to some boy.

"Dean Thomas"

"Well, Mr Thomas?"

"Well, it's like Harry said, isn't it?" said Dean. "If we're going to be attacked, it won't be risk free"

"I repeat," said Professor Umbridge, smiling in a very irritating fashion at Dean, "do you expect to be attacked during my classes?"

"No, but..."

Professor Umbridge talked over him. "I do not wish to criticise the way things have been run in this school," she said, an unconvincing smile stretching her wide mouth, "but you have been exposed to some very irresponsible wizards in this class, very irresponsible indeed, not to mention," she gave a nasty little laugh, "extremely dangerous half-breeds"

Everyone heard a loud snapping sound. And it wasn't just Danny's mind. No, he grabbed his desk so hard, that it got some cracks. He rose on his feet.

"Believe me, Dolores," something in his tone was terrifying to the people around, some could swear, that there was echo in his voice, " half breeds is the least of dangers"

"Professor Umbridge, Mr. Work!" She was steaming in anger, but still keeping her annoying smile,"And you should raise a hand!"

"Well excuse my rudeness, your Majesty, I wasn't watching my mouth! Why should I call you Professor?! Everything I see behind this desk of yours is Annoying. Pink. TOAD!" Phantom shouted in the end. Everyone around gasped in shock at that statement. Even if they all thought that way, no one actually imagined that anybody will have guts to say it in her face. Only Hermione noticed how Danny's eye flashed deadly green. As for Umbridge, she just stared, too shocked to react. But half ghost wasn't done.

"Come to think about it," every his word was covered in venom,"your precious Ministry reacts very interesting. Harry says that Voldemort," everyone gasped yet again," has returned, and what do you do? Not only you call him a liar and Dumbledore a wacko, no. You do completely opposite what smart or at least not idiotic people will. Not only you don't try to train us, you are making us even weaker"

"And why, may I ask? What proves do you have to support your statements? This paddle Skeeter's barking? Or maybe you asked Death Eaters? Ah, I get it. Because Fudge said so! I take my words back, what he says is the law. All hail Candy Lord!" Some people fainted.

"ENOUGH!" Dolores shouted. But Phantom merely smirked, finally the most annoying smile in the both worlds is gone.

"You are getting MONTH of DETENTIONS, Work!" She got the most unexpected reaction. He shrugged.

"Okay," he sat back on his seat with hands behind his head. Now everyone's suspicions were correct. Daniel Work is insane.

"One more thing, how do you think Diggory died?" Synchronical gasp yet again.

"Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident," Umbridge said coldly.

"Yeah, because Avada Kedavra is an airborne disease," Danny leaned back with an innocent smile.

"Come here, Mr. Work," she said blankly after scribing something on a list of paper. He smirked. Under blank stare, Umbridge was unnerved.

"Why not you, you could use some exercise," in response he got a piece of paper flying into his face. Phantom lazily caught it.

"Take this to Professor Snape"

"Okey dokey," with that Danny turned around and walked out of the classroom, leaving shocked students behind. Now they understood the Hat's reaction.

"I will get this brat expelled," Dolores muttered angrily.

Once outside, Phantom was on his way, whistling the music from 'Kill the Bill'. He met some little guy, floating in the air, who was grinning widely.

"Oh, who do we have here? Ditching the classes, huh, Danny-boy?"

"You must be Peeves. Nope, I'm on my way to pass the note to Snape," Peeves whistled.

"Oi, first day and already detention? Daddy must be mad!"

"Nah, it's impossible to make Dad angry"

"What did you do anyway?"

"Called Umbridge a pink toad," poltergeist burst into laughing, making flips in the air.

"Hey Peeves," Phantom said, getting trickster's attention, "do you want to work for me?"

-Laateeeer-

Danny knocked to the Snape's office. He went inside after hearing 'come in'.

"Mr. Work, what's the reason behind this visit?" Phantom handed Professor the letter, which he read.

"Well?" said Professor Snape, "Is this true?"

"Is what true?" Danny asked, playing dumb.

"Is it true that you shouted at Professor Umbridge?"

"Yep"

"You called her a liar?"

"Guilty"

"You told her He Who Must Not Be Named is back?"

"Not exactly, I just said that they don't have any proofs against it"

"You need to be careful, Mr. Work. You should know who she reports to"

"Yeah, her Candy Lord," Snape sighed.

"Merlin, help us all," Danny laughed at some unspoken joke.

A.N. I really hope you liked the chapter, because I love it.


	6. Chapter VI: Detention

-The Great Hall, the same day-

By the dinner the whole school already knew about Danny's act during DADA. People were throwing him glances, and his enhanced hearing caught parts of dialogs there and there.

"He says that Cedric Diggory was murdered..."

"Come off it..."

"Does he really believe what Potter tells?"

"Ya know, he actually got the point..."

At the last sentence Danny smiled. That's what he tried to achieve. Suddenly, bird's scream was heard. That was unusual, since the mail arrived only at the morning. From the special hole under the roof a blue creature flew inside. When everyone looked closely, they were shocked at the sight of Phoenix. In it's claws it was carrying some paper box. The bird then landed on Danny's shoulder.

"Hey, girl, how was your flight here?" He asked, stroking under phoenix's beak. She gave him the box with the letter attached to it.

'Dear Daniel,

I already know about your agreement with Weasleys, so I sent berries ahead. As for Dolores, don't step across the line. You can use other ways to achieve your target.

P.S. Your act during lesson was highly amusing.

Eternal luck,

Clockwork'

Danny smiled, it's nice to have a father with a future sight. Phantom gave some food for hungry bird, which it gladly accepted. She then flew back home. Danny made his way to Griffindor table, searching for two redheads. It didn't take long. They were currently making some unknown stuff, which made an unusual smell. Other Griffindors narrowed their eyes in suspicion.

"Hey guys!" He greeted the twins. It caught their attention immediately.

"Oh, hello, Danny," they said in unison, "What brings you here to our humble table?" Asked Fred, or was it George?

"I have a little present for you," Phantom put the box on the table and opened it, revealing it's contents. There was a lot of little berries, they had crimson color and were emitting slight glow.

"Are those..."

"Yep. You can make a new candies for your collection. Be warned, this is alcoholic"

-Later in Griffindor tower-

"How can Dumbledore have let this happen?" Hermione cried suddenly, making Harry and Ron jump; Crookshanks leapt off her, looking affronted. She pounded the arms of her chair in fury, so that bits of stuffing leaked out of the holes. 'How can he let that terrible woman teach us? And in our OWL year, too!'

"Well, we've never had great Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers, have we?" said Harry, "You know what it's like, Hagrid told us, nobody wants the job; they say it's jinxed"

"Yes, but to employ someone who's actually refusing to let us do magic! What's Dumbledore playing at?"

"And she's trying to get people to spy for her," said Ron darkly.

"Remember when she said she wanted us to come and tell her if we hear anyone saying You-Know-Who's back?"

"Of course she's here to spy on us all, that's obvious, why else would Fudge have wanted her to come?" snapped Hermione.

Fred, George and Lee Jordan were now sitting at the centre of a knot of innocent-looking first-years, all of whom were chewing something that seemed to have come out of a large paper bag that Fred was holding.

"No, I'm sorry, they've gone too far," she said, standing up and looking positively furious, "Come on, Ron"

"I -what?" said Ron, plainly playing for time. "No, come on, Hermione, we can't tell them off for giving out sweets"

"You know perfectly well that those are bits of Nosebleed Nougat or...or Puking Pastilles or..."

"Are those berries?" Harry asked.

One by one, as though hit over the head with an invisible mallet, the first-years were slumping unconscious in their seats; some slid right on to the floor, others merely hung over the arms of their chairs, their tongues lolling out. Most of the people watching were laughing; Hermione, however, squared her shoulders and marched directly over to where Fred and George now stood with clipboards, closely observing the unconscious first-years. Ron rose halfway out of his chair, hovered uncertainly for a moment or two, then muttered to Harry, "She's got it under control," before sinking as low in his chair as his lanky frame permitted.

"That's enough!" Hermione said forcefully to Fred and George, both of whom looked up in mild surprise.

"Yeah, you are right," said George, or was it Fred? "If we use them all right now, there wouldn't be anything left"

"What do you mean?" Asked Hermione confused.

"Danny-boy gave us this wonderful present. And they work perfectly!"

It started a huge argument between prefect and pranksters. At the meantime, Harry slapped himself on a forehead, remembering that he wanted to thank Danny for today. Emerging victorious, Hermione has returned.

"Thank you for your support, Ron," Hermione said acidly.

"You handled it fine by yourself," Ron mumbled.

Hermione stared down at her blank piece of parchment for a few seconds, then said edgily, "Oh, it's no good, I can't concentrate now. I'm going to bed"

But she didn't. Instead she started fussing around wool hats, which were for house elves. That started yet another argument between two prefects. Harry wondered how they were able to become friends in the first place.

-Next morning-

No one understood, how Work has done that. Seriously, everything this guy was doing is lying on the sofa and reading some muggle book. But somehow, in the morning his huge homework was done. In reality, Danny used his duplicates. He sent them to do homework in some abandoned classroom. It was very funny to watch his housemates reactions.

"How did you do that?" Asked Malfoy once Danny sat at the table.

"What did I do?"

"You did nothing, but reading this muggle rubbish, but your homework is done"

"First of all, this isn't a rubbish. It's 'Crime and Punishment'. Secondly, I'm not telling my method"

The day went well for the most part. The face of Professor Snape was priceless, when Danny has given him his work three days earlier. Then, there was Binns.

Professor Binns was a ghost, who taught History of Magic. Actually, more like singing lullaby. This droning voice of his can heal every insomnia. Danny was not exception. Luckily, this guy didn't pay attention to his students and Phantom could get a nice nap.

But the most interesting part was during Care of Magical Creatures.

"Everyone here?" barked Professor Grubbly-Plank, once all the Slytherins and Gryffindors had arrived. "Let's crack on then. Who can tell me what these things are called?"

She indicated the heap of twigs in front of her. Hermione's hand shot into the air. Behind her back, Malfoy did a buck-toothed imitation of her jumping up and down in eagerness to answer a question. Pansy Parkinson gave a shriek of laughter that turned almost at once into a scream, as the twigs on the table leapt into the air and revealed themselves to be what looked like tiny pixie-ish creatures made of wood, each with knobbly brown arms and legs, two twiglike fingers at the end of each hand and a funny flat, barklike face in which a pair of beetle-brown eyes glittered.

"So, anyone know the names of these creatures? Miss Granger?"

"Bowtruckles," said Hermione. "They're tree-guardians, usually live in wand-trees."

"Five points for Gryffindor,' said Professor Grubbly-Plank. "Yes, these are Bowtruckles, and as Miss Granger rightly says, they generally live in trees whose wood is of wand quality. Anybody know what they eat?"

"Woodlice," said Danny promptly, which explained why what Harry had taken to be grains of brown rice were moving, "But fairy eggs if they can get them"

"Good boy, five points to Slytherin, whenever you need leaves or wood from a tree in which a Bowtruckle lodges, it is wise to have a gift of woodlice ready to distract or placate it. They may not look dangerous, but if angered they will try to gouge at human eyes with their fingers, which, as you can see, are very sharp and not at all desirable near the eyeballs. So if you'd like to gather closer, take a few woodlice and a Bowtruckle, I have enough here for one between three, you can study them more closely. I want a sketch from each of you with all body-parts labelled by the end of the lesson"

Phantom wasn't surprised when little creatures didn't do anything to him. Completely opposite, they have taken liking to halfa. Bowtruckles rubbed their heads with his fingers. It caused Danny to chuckle, when he saw everyone staring at this little scene.

"OUCH!" He heard Harry's shout. Near him were Malfoy and co, laughing their butts and walking away.

"Hey Harry," Phantom approached wounded teen.

"Danny," he said bluntly, whatever this people said, it ruined Harry's mood.

"Put this on," Danny took out handkerchief and gave it to him, which he gladly accepted and wrapped it around his hand.

"Why are you doing this?" Harry suddenly asked. Phantom blinked.

"What?"

"You saved me from Snape, supported my words and got a detentions for it. This isn't something Slytherins usually do"

"We are friends, right?" Danny said with a smile, "As for Slytherins, not all of us are evil. We have Malfoyish type, yes. But there are also the ones, who are just afraid to go against them"

"But you don't," Harry stated the fact.

"It will take more than bunch of brats to scare me off," Phantom patted him on shoulder and went away.

-Laaaterrr-

At five to five Danny set off for Umbridge's office on the third floor. When he knocked on the door she called, "Come in," in a sugary voice. He entered cautiously, looking around.

In the days when Gilderoy Lockhart had lived here it had been plastered in beaming portraits of himself. When Lupin had occupied it, it was likely you would meet some fascinating Dark creature in a cage or tank if you came to call. In the impostor Moody's days it had been packed with various instruments and artefacts for the detection of wrongdoing and concealment.

Now, however, it looked totally unrecognisable. The surfaces had all been draped in lacy covers and cloths. There were several vases full of dried flowers, each one residing on its own doily, and on one of the walls was a collection of ornamental plates, each decorated with a large technicolour kitten wearing a different bow around its neck. Professor Umbridge spoke again.

"Good evening, Mr. Work"

"Evening!" Two can play this game of fake cheerfulness. Umbridge could already see the headache coming.

"Well, sit down," she said, pointing towards a small table draped in lace beside which she had drawn up a straight-backed chair. A piece of blank parchment lay on the table, apparently waiting for him.

"Now, you are going to be doing some lines for me, Mr. Work. No, not with your quill," she added, as Danny bent down to open his bag. "You're going to be using a rather special one of mine. Here you are"

She handed him a long, thin black quill with an unusually sharp point.

"I want you to write, I must be respectful," she told him softly.

"What's the catch?"

"Oh, you just need to write it as long as it takes for the message to sink in," said Umbridge sweetly. "Off you go"

She moved over to her desk, sat down and bent over a stack of parchment that looked like essays for marking. Danny raised the sharp black quill, then realised what was missing.

"You haven't given me any ink," he said.

"Oh, you won't need ink," said Professor Umbridge, with the merest suggestion of a laugh in her voice.

"What, am I going to write with my blood?" She blinked in surprise at his right assumption.

"Write, Mr. Work," Dolores said sharply and sweetly at the same time.

Danny placed the point of the quill on the paper and wrote: I must be respectful.

He immediately felt tingling sensation in the back of his hand. The words had appeared on the parchment in what appeared to be shining green ink. At the same time, the words had appeared on the back of Danny's right hand, cut into his skin as though traced there by a scalpel - yet even as he stared at the shining cut, the skin healed over again, leaving the place where it had been slightly greener than before but quite smooth.

Yep, definitely blood, ectoplasm to be exact. That's why his writings were green. Under calm face, Danny was a little disturbed because of the possibility of blowing his cover.

"Is something wrong, Mr. Work?" She asked innocently.

"Nope, peachy"

It was already dark outside of the window, and Danny was still writing. Umbridge was waiting until writings would appear on his hand, but Phantom felt more pain before, so for him, as was said earlier, it was just tingly. That and he is half ghost with enchanced healing.

"Hand," Dolores said.

He extended it. She took it in her own. It felt uncomfortable, when she touched him with her thick, stubby fingers on which she wore a number of ugly old rings.

"Tut, tut, I don't seem to have made much of an impression yet," she said, smiling. "Well, we'll just have to try again tomorrow evening, won't we? You may go"

Danny left her office without a word, but with a huge smirk on his face. The school was quite deserted; it was surely past midnight. Too sad, that everyone was awaken by VERY loud shout of anger. In the end of the parchment Danny has written with big letters: "YOU ARE STILL A TOAD".

-Somewhere in England-

In Little Hangleton was a building. It stood on a hill overlooking the village, some of its windows boarded, tiles missing from its roof, and ivy spreading unchecked over its face. Once a fine-looking manor, and easily the largest and grandest building for miles around, the Riddle House was now damp, derelict, and unoccupied. Or so people thought. Inside lived the man, who owned this place, Lord Voldemort. He was now sitting on his throne, listening to his follower and petting Nagini, his snake.

"Tell me, Lucius, what have your son found on this boy?" Dark Lord's voice sent shivers down Lucius' spine.

"Work clearly isn't the one to follow rules. In his first day he insulted DADA professor and was proving your return, my lord"

"Hm, it would be foolish to think that he wouldn't do that. Dumbledore wouldn't take some random boy all of a sudden. Any information about the rest of his family?"

"N-no, my lord. But there is a suspicion, that he is half-breed," Dark Lord raised his nonexistent eyebrow.

"And what makes you think so?" Lucius gulped.

"The boy snapped after Umbridge insulted them"

"So another noble family dirtied their blood. That's pity. What exactly is that boy?" Voldemort inquired.

"W-we don't know, we are trying to figure out"

"I'm not pleased, Malfoy. Don't return until you will learn more"

"Yes, my lord"

A.N. Guys, comment, please, but there is no need to mention spelling mistakes, my beta reader is very busy, even before I started this story. I'm trying to find someone to do the job in his absence.


	7. Chapter VII: UGH

Danny felt pity for the others, really. He was the only one, who was able to sleep after Umbridge's outburst last night. Everyone else had bags under their eyes during breakfast. Some people looked at him with envy. He poured himself some coffee and took a newspaper. From the front page, to reveal a large photograph of Dolores Umbridge, smiling widely and blinking slowly at him from beneath the headline.

MINISTRY SEEKS EDUCATIONAL REFORM

DOLORES UMBRIDGE APPOINTED

FIRST EVER HIGH INQUISITOR

Danny raised an eyebrow. Well, if it's something like Nightingale, he has nothing to worry about. He continued to read.

'In a surprise move last night the Ministry of Magic passed new legislation giving itself an unprecedented level of control at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"The Minister has been growing uneasy about goings-on at Hogwarts for some time," said Junior Assistant to the Minister, Percy Weasley. "He is now responding to concerns, voiced by anxious parents, who feel the school may be moving in a direction they do not approve of."

This is not the first time in recent weeks that the Minister, Cornelius Fudge, has used new laws to effect improvements at the wizarding school. As recently as 30th August, Educational Decree Number Twenty-two was passed, to ensure that, in the event of the current Headmaster being unable to provide a candidate for a teaching post, the Ministry should select an appropriate person.

"That's how Dolores Umbridge came to be appointed to the teaching staff at Hogwarts," said Weasley last night. "Dumbledore couldn't find anyone so the Minister put in Umbridge, and of course, she's been an immediate success...'

That did it. Danny burst into laughing. Wiping tear from his eye, he continued.

'...an immediate success, totally revolutionising the teaching of Defence Against the Dark Arts and providing the Minister with on-the-ground feedback about what's really happening at Hogwarts."

It is this last function that the Ministry has now formalised with the passing of Educational Decree Number Twenty-three, which creates the new position of Hogwarts High Inquisitor.

"This is an exciting new phase in the Minister's plan to get to grips with what some are calling the falling standards at Hogwarts," said Weasley. "The Inquisitor will have powers to inspect her fellow educators and make sure that they are coming up to scratch. Professor Umbridge has been offered this position in addition to her own teaching post and we are delighted to say that she has accepted"

The Ministry's new moves have received enthusiastic support from parents of students at Hogwarts.

"I feel much easier in my mind now that I know Dumbledore is being subjected to fair and objective evaluation," said Mr. Lucius Malfoy, 41, speaking from his Wiltshire mansion last night. "Many of us with our children's best interests at heart have been concerned about some of Dumbledore's eccentric decisions in the last few years and are glad to know that the Ministry is keeping an eye on the situation"

Among those eccentric decisions are undoubtedly the controversial staff appointments previously described in this newspaper, which have included the employment of werewolf Remus Lupin, half-giant Rubeus Hagrid and delusional ex-Auror, "Mad-Eye" Moody.

Not mentioning ridiculous decision about accepting an exchange student. Daniel Work has already proved to be a troubled child, insulting Professor Umbridge and poisoning the students. His attitude makes us question his sanity'

Everyone around was waiting for Phantom's reaction. They expected him to burn the newspaper or start shouting in anger. Yes, he shouted, however...

"OMG, guys! I'm all over the news!"

All students facepalmed.

Potions went well, for him, at least. Poor Harry got a 'D', which is 'Dreadful'. Danny got an 'O', since his homework was perfect. And it has nothing to do with him being Slytherin.

There was Divination next. Danny was excited to learn that, since it reminded him about Clockwork. At least twenty small, circular tables were crammed inside Divination classroom, all surrounded by chintz armchairs and fat little pouffes. Everything was lit with dim, crimson light; the curtains at the windows were all closed, and the many lamps were draped with dark red scarves. It was stiflingly warm, and the fire which was burning under the crowded mantelpiece was giving off a heavy, sickly sort of perfume as it heated a large copper kettle. The shelves running around the circular walls were crammed with dusty-looking feathers, stubs of candles, many packs of tattered playing cards, countless silvery crystal balls and a huge array of teacups.

It was funny, how wizards needed so much for seeing the future, when he could just watch historical events on a screen with a bowl of popcorn in his hands.

"I still think that this is waste of time," Phantom heard Hermione saying. He turned his head to face her.

"What makes you think so?"

"You can't see the future, because it can be changed," Danny chuckled.

"No doubt it can. Let's think a little bit, you can picture a drawing in your mind, but you are also changing some details, as you continue to draw. You can even get something completely different. Plus, you haven't really changed the time two years ago," Phantom laughed at the trio's shocked faces. How did he know?

Professor Umbridge emerged through the trapdoor in the floor. The class, which had been talking cheerily, fell silent at once. The abrupt fall in the noise level made Professor Trelawney, who had been wafting about handing out copies of The Dream Oracle, look round.

"Good afternoon, Professor Trelawney," said Professor Umbridge with her wide smile. "You received my note, I trust? Giving the time and date of your inspection?"

Professor Trelawney nodded curtly and, looking very disgruntled, turned her back on Professor Umbridge and continued to give out books. Still smiling, Professor Umbridge grasped the back of the nearest armchair and pulled it to the front of the class so that it was a few inches behind Professor Trelawney's seat. She glared at Danny, who smiled innocently. If it was a cartoon, he would have a nymbus above his head.

Phantom was disappointed. This methods of foreseeing were rubbish. Dream diary? Really? The dreams about the future are easy to understand. You don't need to search some secret meaning.

"Now," said Umbridge, looking up at Trelawney, "you've been in this post how long, exactly?"

"Nearly sixteen years," she answered with her arms crossed.

"Quite a period," said Professor Umbridge, making a note on her clipboard, "So it was Professor Dumbledore who appointed you?"

"That's right," said Professor Trelawney shortly.

Professor Umbridge made another note.

"And you are a great-great-granddaughter of the celebrated Seer Cassandra Trelawney?"

"Yes," said Professor Trelawney, holding her head a little higher.

Another note on the clipboard.

"But I think...correct me if I am mistaken...that you are the first in your family since Cassandra to be possessed of Second Sight?"

"These things often skip...er...three generations," said Professor Trelawney.

Professor Umbridge's toadlike smile widened.

"Of course," she said sweetly, making yet another note, "Well, if you could just predict something for me, then?" And she looked up enquiringly, still smiling.

Professor Trelawney stiffened as though unable to believe her ears. "I don't understand you," she said, clutching convulsively at the shawl around her scrawny neck.

"I'd like you to make a prediction for me," said Professor Umbridge very clearly.

"Oh, oh, I can!" Exclaimed Danny and put his fingers on his temples, as if thinking, and closing his eye, "I see...mmm...how Peeves drops a bucket with glue...mmm...on your head," he said with 'mysterious' voice.

"Mr. Work, quiet!" Dolores barked.

"Are you still angry for yesterday?" Danny said in fake sadness, "But I'm warning you..."

"I said QUIET! Now, Professor?"

"The Inner Eye does not See upon command!" she said in scandalised tones.

"I see," said Professor Umbridge softly, making yet another note on her clipboard.

"I...but...but...wait!" said Professor Trelawney suddenly, in an attempt at her usual ethereal voice, though the mystical effect was ruined somewhat by the way it was shaking with anger. "I ... I think I do see something ... something that concerns you ... why, I sense something ... something dark ... some grave peril ..."

Professor Trelawney pointed a shaking finger at Professor Umbridge who continued to smile blandly at her, eyebrows raised.

"I am afraid...I am afraid that you are in grave danger!" Professor Trelawney finished dramatically.

There was a pause. Professor Umbridge surveyed Professor Trelawney.

"Right," she said softly, scribbling on her clipboard once more. "Well, if that's really the best you can do..."

She turned away, leaving Professor Trelawney standing rooted to the spot, her chest heaving. But halls were yet again filled with Dolores' screams and yelling.

"I WARNED YOU!" Danny shouted. Needless to say, DADA was canceled for today.

-Laterr-

It was a dark room with one candle being the only source of light. There were five figures in dark cloaks hiding their faces, one of them was floating in the air.

"Looks like our friend has done well today," the one said.

"What I don't understand is why are we wearing this clothes in the dark closet," said the second, taking off the hood and revealing Lee Jordan.

"It was for dramatical effect!" Snapped Danny.

"Oi, looks like we have a drama queen here," added Peeves.

"Burned!" Exclaimed Weasley twins, laughing.

"MOVING ON! You should know why we are here"

"Eh, noo," everyone around answered. Phantom sighed.

"We all want to get rid of Umbridge, right?" At their nods, Danny continued.

"That's the reason of our meeting. We need to unite our efforts to achieve our goals. We need UGH"

"Is something wrong?"

"No, it's just the name - Umbridge Go Home"

"Despite stupid name, we are in!"

-Latteerr-

It took them a few weeks to smuggle all the stuff. When there are stinking janitor with scary cat and 'High Inquisitor' breathing down their necks, it may be hard. But UGH members were smarter than them. Danny asked Clockwork to deliver pranking items to the special point in the Forbidden Forest. He was the one to pick them up, because he had the biggest chances of surviving. From there Phantom carried the stuff to the Peeves' hideout, impressing his comrades with his stealth skills.

Danny wanted to sleep at night, so he was smuggling during middle of the lunch. With the paper box being invisible, Phantom was walking through the stony corridors of the castle. He then saw some first year girl in Hufflepuff robes, who was rubbing the back of her wrist. Danny knew, what that meant, and he felt the anger building up inside.

"Hey there," Phantom said softly, coming closer.

"H-hello," she was slightly afraid of him because of his crazy acts.

"Is something wrong?"

"Yes...I mean no...I...got a detention with Professor Umbridge," looks like Danny's suspicions were correct. He kept neutral face, but there was a burning inferno on the inside. It was okay when Dolores tried to torture him, but now she crossed the line. NOBODY messes with Phantom's obsession. To protect the others.

"Let me see your hand," she reluctantly gave it.

"It might feel unusual, but everything is going to be alright"

Danny's eye started to emit icy blue glow, the same one around her wrist. The girl immediately felt cold. The tingly sensation spreaded through the whole 'wound'. Seconds later, all this sensations dissappeared along with pain. The only reminders were red writings on the back of her wrist.

"Th-thank you," she said. Danny smiled.

"You are welcome. By the way, are there any others with the same wounds?"

The girl's name was Emily. She told Phantom about some of her housemates, causing a devious plan to appear in halfa's head.

When Danny came for dinner, he was greeted by Hermione near the doors of the Great Hall.

"So, did you want to talk with me?"

"Yeah, I just wanted to ask you to come in some place during the Hogsmeade trip"

"Hm, okay, what's that place?"

"The Hog's Head"


	8. Chapter VIII: Surprise

Grinning widely Danny knocked on the door of Umbridge's office. "Come in," sounded from the other side. He walked inside.

"Sit down, Mr. Work," she said gesturing to the seat. All sweetness in her tone was gone.

"Ya know, I was wondering about something," Phantom said, sitting on the chair.

"And that will be?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Do you have any private life? All you do is sitting here half of the day on detentions..."

"You are NOT ditching it!"

"Wasn't planning to. But as for others..." Danny took out five photos, showing wounded wrists with writings on them.

"I will put it as bluntly as possible. STOP torturing children or..." He smirked.

"Or the whole British Wizarding World will know that Ministry official cuts kids open," Dolores paled, then she burned pictures with quick 'Incendio'. But smirk wasn't gone.

"I take it as no? Well, I still have copies" Danny said last sentence in singsong voice.

"Fine," Umbridge said through gritted teeth,"but you are staying here!"

"Again, wasn't planning to"

-Lllateeerr-

The morning of the Hogsmeade visit dawned bright but windy. Alter breakfast students queued up in front of Filch, who matched their names to the long list of students who had permission from their parents or guardian to visit the village. Again, Clockwork sent permission ahead. Danny came straight to his comrades, who were standing near the entrance.

"We have an hour before meeting," Phantom whispered,"where will we go until then?"

"Oh, we know one place..." said Fred.

"Zonko's joke shop," finished his brother.

Hogsmeade was a lovely place. Danny wondered if every wizards' settlement was like that. First Diagon Alley, now that. This village is very lively. It looked like a Christmas card; the little thatched cottages and shops were standing in rows; there were holly wreaths on the doors and strings of enchanted candles hanging in the trees. The UGH members went to the shop, painted in bright red colors.

Inside were all types of pranking stuff, such as Dungbombs, Hiccough Sweets, Frog Spawn Soap, Sugar Quills, Nose-Biting Teacups and many other things Danny couldn't identify. He let the experts handle the choice, being just an observer. After some time, the group walked out with paper boxes in their hands, making way to Hog's head. A battered wooden sign hung from a rusty bracket over the door, with a picture on it of a wild boar's severed head, leaking blood on to the white cloth around it. The sign creaked in the wind as they approached. All four of them hesitated outside the door.

"Wow, scary," said Lee. Danny shrugged.

"I have seen more creepy places," he responded.

The Hog's Head bar comprised one small, dingy and very dirty room that smelled strongly of something that might have been goats. The bay windows were so encrusted with grime that very little daylight could permeate the room, which was lit instead with the stubs of candles sitting on rough wooden tables. The floor seemed at first glance to be compressed earth.

There was a lot of people inside. Twenty two students, excluding so called 'Golden Trio'. Between ones Danny recognized were Neville Longbottom, Ginny, Luna Lovegood, who looked like she walked here by accident with her look far away. Phantom sadly admitted to himself that he was the only Slytherin in the room. He then noticed barman.

"Hey, barman, whiskey to me and my horse, please!" Everyone raised eyebrows, including the man in front of him. Danny sighed.

"Twenty five Butterbeers and one Fire Whiskey. My treat," Phantom wanted to try this drink. Normal alhohol wouldn't do anything to his fast healing body.

The barman took out all the stuff, grudgingly. The bottles looked like they accumulated all filth in the both worlds. Everyone took Butterbeer as Danny made a gulp from red bottle of Fire Whiskey. It sure felt weird. The 'fire' part made up for the name. However, all the warm was instantly extinguished by his core.

"What in the bloody hell are you doing?!" Ron shouted.

"Eh, drinking"

"But you aren't of age!"

"So?" Said Danny and made another gulp.

"Er," said Hermione, her voice slightly higher than usual out of nerves," Well...er...hi."

The group focused its attention on her, though eyes continued to dart back regularly to Harry.

"Well ... erm ... well, you know why you're here. Erm ... well, Harry here had the idea...I mean", Harry had thrown her a sharp look, "I had the idea...that it might be good if people who wanted to study Defence Against the Dark Arts, and I mean, really study it, you know, not the rubbish that Umbridge is doing with us..." Hermione's voice became suddenly much stronger and more confident," because nobody could call that Defence Against the Dark Arts. Well, I thought it would be good if we, well, took matters into our own hands"

She paused, looked sideways at Harry and went on, "And by that I mean learning how to defend ourselves properly, not just in theory but doing the real spells"

"You want to pass your Defence Against the Dark Arts OWL too, though, I bet?" said Michael Corner, who was watching her closely.

"Of course I do," said Hermione at once, "But more than that, I want to be properly trained in defence because ... because ..." she took a great breath and finished, "because Lord Voldemort is back"

The reaction was immediate and predictable. Cho's friend shrieked and slopped Butterbeer down herself; Terry Boot gave a kind of involuntary twitch; Padma Patil shuddered, and Neville gave an odd yelp that he managed to turn into a cough. Danny however threw his hands in the air.

"Yohoo, another one calls him by name!" He shouted.

"Well ... that's the plan, anyway," said Hermione, "If you want to join us, we need to decide how we're going to..."

"Where's the proof You-Know-Who's back?" said the blond Hufflepuff player in a rather aggressive voice.

"Well, Dumbledore believes it..." Hermione began.

"You mean, Dumbledore believes him," said the blond boy, nodding at Harry.

"Who are you?" said Ron, rather rudely.

"Zacharias Smith," said the boy, "and I think we've got the right to know exactly what makes him say You-Know-Who's back"

"Well, firstly, this isn't what this meeting is about, Zacharias," Danny answered, "and secondly, this guy saw him," he pointed on Harry," I know, that this isn't enough to prove Voldemort's," another reaction, "return, but answer me, why would Harry lie? Seeking attention? This guy fought with Professor, who had Dark Lord sticking out of the back of his head, in the age of eleven, defeated giant snake with literal death glare, when he was twelve. Two years ago Harry stood against an army of soul sucking demons. And he won the Triwizard Tournament for crying out loud! Just simple logic will provide enough proofs. He is the last one, who will need to lie to call attention to himself"

There was a silence after that. Danny took another gulp of Whiskey to celebrate his little victory.

"So," said Hermione, her voice very high-pitched again, "So ... like I was saying ... if you want to learn some defence, then we need to work out how we're going to do it, how often we're going to meet and where we're going to..."

"Is it true," interrupted the girl with the long plait down her back, looking at Harry, "that you can produce a Patronus?"

There was a murmur of interest around the group at this.

"Yeah," said Harry slightly defensively.

"A corporeal Patronus?"

The phrase stirred something in Harry's memory.

"Er, you don't know Madam Bones, do you?" he asked.

The girl smiled.

"She's my auntie," she said, "I'm Susan Bones. She told me about your hearing. So, is it really true? You make a stag Patronus?"

"Yes," said Harry.

"Blimey, Harry!" said Lee, looking deeply impressed, "I never knew that!"

"Mom told Ron not to spread it around," said Fred, grinning at Harry, "She said you got enough attention as it was"

"She's not wrong," mumbled Harry, and a couple of people laughed.

"Wait a minute," said Ron, turning to Danny "How did YOU know about that?"

"My Dad knows everything," was his answer, "And I literally mean everything. I know it sounds stupid, but he really does. It's impossible to prank him, believe me I tried," it caused some people to laugh. Danny's plan to change the topic worked. People started to ask Harry questions, to confirm what they heard. He was modest, and a bit embarrassed. Phantom let out a chuckle. Back home people tended to react like that when they met THE Phantom.

"The point is, are we agreed we want to take lessons from Harry?" Asked Hermione.

There was a murmur of general agreement. Zacharias folded his arms and said nothing, though perhaps this was because he was too busy keeping an eye on the instrument in Fred's hand, which he offered to stick it in...nevermind.

"Right," said Hermione, looking relieved that something had at last been settled, "Well, then, the next question is how often we do it. I really don't think there's any point in meeting less than once a week..."

"Hang on," said Angelina, "we need to make sure this doesn't clash with our Quidditch practice"

"No," said Cho, "nor with ours"

"Nor ours," added Zacharias Smith.

"And I'm the only Slytherin here," said Danny.

"I'm sure we can find a night that suits everyone," said Hermione, slightly impatiently, "but you know, this is rather important, we're talking about learning to defend ourselves against V-Voldemort's Death Eaters"

"Well said!" barked Ernie Macmillan, who Harry had been expecting to speak long before this, "Personally, I think this is really important, possibly more important than anything else we'll do this year, even with our OWLs coming up!"

He looked around impressively, as though waiting for people to cry 'Surely not!' When nobody spoke, he went on, "I, personally, am at a loss to see why the Ministry has foisted such a useless teacher on us at this critical period. Obviously, they are in denial about the return of You-Know-Who, but to give us a teacher who is trying to actively prevent us from using defensive spells..."

"We think the reason Umbridge doesn't want us trained in Defence Against the Dark Arts," said Hermione, "is that she's got some ... some mad idea that Dumbledore could use the students in the school as a kind of private army. She thinks he'd mobilise us against the Ministry"

Nearly everybody looked stunned at this news; everybody except Danny and Luna Lovegood, who piped up, "Well, that makes sense. After all, Cornelius Fudge has got his own private army"

"What?" said Harry, completely thrown by this unexpected piece of information.

"Yes, he's got an army of Heliopaths," said Luna solemnly.

"No, he hasn't," snapped Hermione.

"Yes, he has," said Luna.

"What are Heliopaths? Something with fire?" Asked Danny curiosly.

"Yes, they're spirits of fire," said Luna, her protuberant eyes widening and smile appearing because someone finally showed interest in this topic, "great tall flaming creatures that gallop across the ground burning everything in front of..."

"They don't exist, Danny," said Hermione tartly.

"Oh, yes, they do!" said Luna angrily.

"I'm sorry, but where's the proof of that?" snapped Hermione.

"Ya know, muggles are sure that wizards don't exist either," Danny answered.

"Hem, hem," said Ginny, in such a good imitation of Professor Umbridge that several people looked around in alarm and then laughed. "Weren't we trying to decide how often we're going to meet and have defence lessons?"

"Yes," said Hermione at once, "yes, we were, you're right, Ginny"

"Well, once a week sounds cool," said Lee Jordan.

"As long as..." began Angelina.

"Yes, yes, we got it, Quiddich above else," said Danny, receiving a glare.

"Well, the other thing to decide is where we're going to meet..." said Hermione.

This was rather more difficult; the whole group fell silent.

"Library?" suggested Katie Bell after a few moments.

"I can't see Madam Pince being too chuffed with us doing jinxes in the library," said Harry.

There was a long discussion about place of meeting. Students couldn't find a solution, so it was decided, that everyone will be informed, when appropriate place will be found. When people signed up, Danny asked question.

"I couldn't help but notice that I'm the only one wearing this badge here," he gestured to his Slytherin emblem.

"Ehm, you are an exception, Danny," said Harry, uncertainly.

"Like we need another snakes here," spat Zacharias.

"As I already told Harry, not all of us are spoiled brats. I have some people in mind, who would like to join and can keep their mouths shut"

"Hm, if you are sure," said Hermione.

"Believe me, if someone will let it spill, I will be the one to turn their lives in hell," Danny responded with sweet smile, which sent shivers down people spines.

"Well, time's ticking on," said Fred briskly, getting to his feet, "Danny, George, Lee and I have got items of a sensitive nature to purchase for...we'll be seeing you all later," with that UGH members started to walk away.

"I'd like to listen more later," Danny said to Luna, causing her to smile.

-Laateerrr-

Phantom was currently sneaking in Hogwarts all the things UGH bought. Tomorrow they are going to start the operation 'Burn the inquisitor'. They hid the stuff on the usual spot in the Forbidden Forest. Danny was removing the fallen leaves, under which the stuff was lying. However, he heard coughing sound from behind. Phantom rapidly turned around and saw the person he wasn't expecting.

"Dad?" He asked shocked.

"Hello, Daniel, it's good to see you," Clockwork said with the smile, enveloping his son in a hug, "You are probably wondering why am I here, don't you?"

"Eh, yeah," in response the Time Master opened the portal, where they walked in. They appeared in the clocktower. Home sweet home.

"Daniel, do you remember your visit to Gringotts?" Danny nodded. The screen showed the familiar golden cup.

"That feeling you got is a part of your ghost sense. This cup is the Horcrux," Phantom's eyes widened in surprise.

"So, I should go there and destroy it?"

"Not exactly. It might prove to be hard to destroy the part of soul inside. For now you just need to get it, luckily goblins don't expect a ghost to break inside and out," Danny chuckled.

"But how will I destroy the Horcrux?"

"Your sixteenth birthday is coming up soon. By ghosts' standards you come of age," Clockwork smiled, but Phantom was just confused even more.

"You will get the needed power on Halloween. It's when your coronation will take place," the bomb was dropped.

"MY WHAT?!" Danny shouted.

"You have defeated Pariah Dark in fair fight. By the ancient laws you have full rights for the throne"

"B-but I c-can't, Dad! I'm not the type! I...what if..." Clockwork put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Daniel, remember how YOU were the one to lead the fight against him? Remember how YOU gave people the hope for the future? Even now you are leading your little group against the Ministry. You are more than capable for that job. But you still have some time to think about that. Goodbye, my son," in a blink of an eye Danny dissapeared from the clocktower. The Time Master felt bad for sending young Phantom away like that. He just hoped Danny wouldn't be angry at him.

-Laaterr-

Danny wasn't angry, no. He was too shocked to feel something else. He? The king? Taking a good look at his surroundings, Phantom noticed, that he was in Diagon Alley. Looks like he need to get the cup right now. It was night in London. Making sure no one saw him, Danny became invisible, flying inside the bank. For some time everything was forgotten. Phantom almost forgot, how wonderful flying is. How much joy he felt being in the air.

The hardest thing was to find the vault in the dark undergrounds of Gringotts. Ghosts can see in darkness. But again, being half ghost has ups and downs. Danny ignited his hand with green light of ghost ray. After some time he found Malfoys' vault. The dragon was snoring loudly. Phantom sneaked inside and saw the target of his travel. There was a strange feeling on the inside and it wasn't the one coming from the cup. Why not, Danny is making history here, he will be the first one to steal something from Gringotts. There should be guilt, but Phantom is doing that for the best of people around.

He grabbed the cup. It was golden, with two handles and badgers engraved by the sides. Suddenly, everything started to shake. All the treasures inside started to double, triple, filling the empty space inside. Danny accidentally touched one coin and yelped in pain. It burns! Not wasting time, he jumped through the door outside.

All this noise woke the half blind dragon. It started to sniff the air, detecting the intruder. But instead of attacking, it just moved it's head near halfa. Phantom smiled and petted the giant reptile. Looks like all magical creatures like him.

"Hey, pal. Do you want me to get you out?"

In response dragon growled softly, which Danny took as yes. He took the giant chains and made them intangible. The loud sound filled the giant space of underground as chains fell on the ground. The dragon roared in happiness, then grabbed Danny with it's tail and put him on it's back. Phantom laughed.

"Okay, okay, I will lead you out," he said, becoming invisible.

It was interesting that goblins worked 24/7. When Danny and the dragon flew out, the huge chaos started. The stacks of paper were flying everywhere, the torrents of fire engulfed the whole entrance hall. Workers were running away from raging beast, which clearly enjoyed it's revenge. The glass shuttering, the fire eating the wooden objects, the people's screams mixed in horrendous sound. Suddenly Danny understood something.

"We need to go away fast before wizards will arrive," he said to his companion. It immediately realized that he was right. Spreading it's wings, the dragon flew outside with a final roar, breaking the glass roof.

After that they were flying above night London. It was one of the most beautiful sights Danny has ever seen, feeling sad for his companion, who was blind. And with nothing, but sound of moving wings, Phantom was left to his thoughts. Maybe that's why Clockwork sent him here? To think? This creature trusted him and Danny led it to freedom. He IS capable of leadership, the question is does he want that?

He doesn't want the power, he is everything Pariah wasn't. Danny felt the pang in his core. He understood something. Who will protect the people better than their ruler?

-Later-

It was one in the morning, when Danny returned to Hogwarts. The dragon decided to sleep in the forest. Clutching the cup, Phantom was walking down to the Slytherin dungeons. He was feeling sleepy, ready to fall down every second. Phantom was too excausted to use his teleportation. Not looking where he was going, Danny hit something, or someone.

"I'm sorry I wasn't watching where I was going," he looked up and saw Bloody Baron, Slytherin house ghost, who was staring at Danny in shock.

"It's...quite alright, young man," the ghost managed to say,"you better go to your dorms before anyone will see you"

"Thanks, sir," said Danny, continuing his way.

Baron wanted to tell his fellow ghosts about the boy, who managed to touch him.

A.N. Well, you read my profile, I like King concept. And there is Danny x Luna moment. It's not like I ship them really much, Luna is just my favorite HP female character.


	9. Chapter IX: Beginnings

Bloody Baron was searching for his fellow house ghosts. After some time he found Sir Nicholas floating in Astronomy Tower.

"Nicholas!" Baron called. If he was alive, he would be panting. The Griffindor ghost turned to his friend.

"Baron? Is something wrong?" He asked.

"Well, not wrong, but very important, do you know, where Lady and Friar are?"

"Why, yes I have seen them in the Great Hall, but what's going on?"

"I will tell when we find them"

Indeed, they were currently there.

"...It's strange, though, why Peeves is so quiet recently?" Asked Grey Lady.

"Maybe he finally stepped on the right path, as I was saying," Fat Friar answered.

"Friends!" Nicholas greeted, "Baron has something important to say"

"Oh, and that will be?" Asked Lady coldly. She has her reasons for disliking Slytherin ghost.

"It concerns this student, Daniel Work," that wasn't what they were expecting.

"And what about him?" Friar inquired.

"He touched me"

"WHAT?!"

"I was wondering around the halls. Suddenly he just bumped into me!"

"And what was he doing so late?" Asked Nick, still shocked.

"Well, Daniel looked very exhausted...Wait...there was something in his hands...Golden cup...with badgers engraved on it!" He almost shouted in the end, realizing what this item was. Everyone around came to the same conclusion.

"Where did he get the Hufflepuff cup?" Asked Friar.

"I don't know, but do you think we should tell The Headmaster?"

"Definitely"

-Laaterr-

Danny felt something wet touching him. Slightly opening his eye, he saw that Cujo was licking his face.

"Cujo, what are you doing?" Phantom asked sleepily.

"Master, you are going to be late!" The puppy barked.

"What?!" He immediately jumped from his bed, took the robes on and started to walk to breakfast.

"What were you doing last night?" Asked Cujo on their way. Danny lowered his voice, so only puppy could hear it.

"I found one horcrux"

"Really? Where was it?"

"I am the first one to break inside Gringotts. It definitely will be over the news after the show I made"

"Master, look"

A large sign had been affixed to the Slytherin noticeboard, so large it covered everything else on it--the lists of secondhand spellbooks for sale, the regular reminders of school rules from Argus Filch, the Quidditch team training timetable, the offers to barter certain Chocolate Frog Cards for others, the dates of the Hogsmeade weekends and the lost and found notices. The new sign was printed in large black letters and there was a highly official-looking seal at the bottom beside a neat and curly signature.

BY ORDER OF THE HIGH INQUISITOR OF HOGWARTS

All student organisations, societies, teams, groups and clubs are

henceforth disbanded.

An organisation, society, team, group or club is hereby defined

as a regular meeting of three or more students.

Permission to re-form may be sought from the High Inquisitor

(Professor Umbridge).

No student organisation, society, team, group or club may exist

without the knowledge and approval of the High Inquisitor.

Any student found to have formed, or to belong to, an organisation,

society, team, group or club that has not been approved by

the High Inquisitor will be expelled.

The above is in accordance with Educational Decree

Number Twenty-four.

Signed: Dolores Jane Umbridge, High Inquisitor

The group of students were eyeing Danny, waiting for his reaction. Not surprisingly, he started to laugh.

"Her second name is JANE?!"

"Master, doesn't that mean that your group might have difficulties?"

"Oh, you are right, Cujo. But I don't think it should be so hard. But does it mean Quidditch is canceled as well?" Everyone got used to Danny's conversations with his dog, thinking that this is a part of his antics.

"Yes it is, but I wouldn't worry so much about it," said Draco, coming from behind,"It says that we can get permission"

"You are part of the team, right?"

"Yes, I'm seeker of Slytherin team since the second year. Are you playing?"

"Nope, never sat on the broom," that caused everyone to stare at him, "I rode the dragon, though," he added in the end, shocking the audience.

"When did it happen?" Asked Cujo.

"I will tell you later"

-Laaater-

It was immediately apparent on entering the Great Hall that Umbridge's sign had not only appeared in Gryffindor Tower. There was a peculiar intensity about the chatter and an extra measure of movement in the Hall as people scurried up and down their tables conferring on what they had read. Harry, Ron and Hermione had barely taken their seats when Neville, Dean, Fred, George and Ginny descended upon them.

"Did you see it?"

"D'you reckon she knows?"

"What are we going to do?"

They were all looking at Harry. He glanced around to make sure there were no teachers near them.

"We're going to do it anyway, of course," he said quietly.

"Knew you'd say that," said George, beaming and thumping Harry on the arm.

"The prefects as well?" said Fred, looking quizzically at Ron and Hermione.

"Of course," said Hermione coolly.

"Here come Ernie and Hannah Abbott," said Ron, looking over his shoulder. "And those Ravenclaw blokes and Smith ... and no one looks very spotty"

"Hey, guys!" Everyone jumped in surprise. Danny sure was sneaky.

"Danny? What are you doing here?" Asked Harry.

"I have bad news for you and Ron. Quidditch falls under this decree"

"What?" They both asked.

"You better be careful if you need a permission to play," Danny turned to the twins,"how is it going?"

"Everything is ready!" They said in unison.

"Good, do it according the plan," with that Phantom walked away.

"What plan?" Asked Hermione.

"You will see," they smiled micheviously. Ron knew this look WAY too good.

"Hey, look," Harry said pointing on the front page of Daily Prophet. There was a photo of the ruined hall of Gringotts.

'We all know the Gringotts bank. It's known mostly because of it's reputation of the most safe bank with perfect reputation. However yesterday, an unthinkable happened. The first succesful break in has occurred yesterday at night. Most of the details are unknown, but Ministry is working hard to find the thief.

"The robbering was very unusual," says the Minister Cornelius Fudge,"Firstly, no one entered the bank at that time. Secondly, the cart wasn't used, which is very strange, including the fact that the vault was deep inside"

The vault belongs to the house of Malfoys, who declined to comment this event. The only known detail is that only one object was stolen. Despite the Doubling and Burning curses, put on the treasury, the robber managed to get inside and out of the vault without even opening the door.

The thief also let out the dragon, who was guarding the vault. During the chaos, he or she managed to get away from there. It makes people question the safety of their own possessions and hope that this undoubtedly skillful robber wouldn't go after their wealth'

"Blamey, I didn't think I would see the day, when there will be a successful robbering," said Lee.

"Well, it was Malfoys' vault, so it can't be bad, right?" Said Harry, receiving nods of agreement.

-Laterrrrrr-

"You will notice,"said Snape, in his low, sneering voice, "that we have a guest with us today"

He gestured towards the dim corner of the dungeon and everyone saw Professor Umbridge sitting there, clipboard on her knee.

"We are continuing with our Strengthening Solution today. You will find your mixtures as you left them last lesson; it correctly made they should have matured well over the weekend, instructions," he waved his wand again "...on the board. Carry on"

Professor Umbridge spent the first half hour of the lesson making notes in her corner.

"Well, the class seem fairly advanced for their level," she said briskly to Snape's back, "Though I would question whether it is advisable to teach them a potion like the Strengthening Solution. I think the Ministry would prefer it if that was removed from the syllabus"

"Wow, Jane, I didn't think you know such long words," Danny said, not removing his eye from the potion.

"You are getting another week of detentions, Work"

"You should have noticed by now that I don't care"

"Now ... how long have you been teaching at Hogwarts?" she asked Snape, her quill poised over her clipboard.

"Fourteen years," Snape replied. His expression was unfathomable.

"You applied first for the Defence Against the Dark Arts post, I believe?" Professor Umbridge asked Snape.

"Yes," he said quietly.

"But you were unsuccessful?"

Snape's lip curled.

"Obviously"

Professor Umbridge scribbled on her clipboard.

"And you have applied regularly for the Defence Against the Dark Arts post since you first joined the school, I believe?"

"Yes," said Snape quietly, barely moving his lips. He looked very angry.

"Do you have any idea why Dumbledore has consistently refused to appoint you?" asked Umbridge.

"You can, ya know, just ask him," said Danny.

"Quiet," growled Professor Umbridge," the Ministry wants a thorough understanding of teachers'...backgrounds"

"But you asked only him, if I'm not mistaken," added Phantom. She just ignored him this time and went to ask some students.

-Later-

It was peaceful dinner. Or so people thought. Of course, UGH prepares the most merciful attack. It's the first time, after all. Danny looked at his Griffindor comrades, waiting for Umbridge to arrive. And certainly, she was approaching the table with a smile on her face.

Suddenly, the flash of light blinded everyone for a moment. Then some booming sound was heard. The whole roof was filled with lists of paper, falling on the ground. The Hall was filled with laughter, when everyone saw what was on it.

These were photos of Professor Umbridge. But they weren't usual. Instead of her head was a toad, smiling with her signature grin. And it really fit, unsurprisingly.

Dolores started to grab the photos, shouting in rage. Grave mistake. The second she touched the pictures, Umbridge was cursed. Understanding, that it was fultile to remove them, she approached the supposed organizer - Work. Danny was just eating dinner, smiling innocently. He looked up at Umbridge.

"Is something wrong, professor?" He asked.

The toad's croaking was her answer. She grabbed her mouth immediately.

"I think you should see the healer, you are returning to the way of your ancestors"

Dolores shouted in rage, which made everyone roar with laughter, because her voice still had notes of croaking. She just ran out of the Hall. Flawless victory.

-Laterr-

On the next day Harry found a place for learning. On the seventh floor, in the Room of Requirements. It was a magical, no duh, place, which could be whatever you need: bathroom, training room, etcetra, etcetra.

Currently it was just a comfy room. The walls were lined with wooden bookcases and instead of chairs the re were large silk cushions on the floor. A set of shelves at the far end of the room carried a range of instruments such as Sneakoscopes, Secrecy Sensors and a large, cracked Foe-Glass.

Most of the members have already arrived. By all the signs, it looked like he was late for an explanation.

"It's fantastic!' said Cho, and several people murmured their agreement.

"It's bizarre," said Fred, frowning around at it, "We once hid from Filch in here, remember, George? But it was just a broom cupboard then"

"Hey, Harry, what's this stuff?" asked Danny from the rear of the room, indicating the Sneakoscopes and the Foe-Glass.

"Dark detectors," said Harry, stepping between the cushions to reach them, "Basically they all show when Dark wizards or enemies are around, but you don't want to rely on them too much, they can be fooled ..."

"Pff, I have one built in," said Danny, referring to his ghost sence.

He gazed for a moment into the cracked Foe-Glass; shadowy figures were moving around inside it, though none was recognisable. He turned his back on it.

"I think we ought to elect a leader," said Hermione.

"Harry's leader," said Cho at once, looking at Hermione as though she were mad.

"Yes, but I think we ought to vote on it properly," said Hermione, unperturbed, "It makes it formal and it gives him authority. So...everyone who thinks Harry ought to be our leader?"

Everybody put up their hand, even Zacharias Smith, though he did it very half-heartedly.

"Er...right, thanks," said Harry, who could feel his face burning, "And...what,Hermione?"

"I also think we ought to have a name," she said brightly, her hand still in the air, "It would promote a feeling of team spirit and unity, don't you think?"

"Can we be the Anti-Umbridge League?" said Angelina hopefully.

"Hey! That's taken!" Shouted Phantom, causing almost everyone to look at him weirdly.

"What?"

"Me, George, Fred and Lee, along with Peeves formed UGH"

"Is something wrong?"

"NO! It's an organization to make Dolores' life here as good as hell. That's the name, Umbridge Go Home.

"It's stupid name"

"Maybe the Ministry of Magic are Morons Group?' suggested Fred, saving his comrade.

"I was thinking," said Hermione, frowning at Fred, "more of a name that didn't tell everyone what we were up to, so we can refer to it safely outside meetings"

"The Defence Association?" said Cho. 'The DA for short, so nobody knows what we're talking about?"

"Yeah, the DA's good," said Ginny, "Only let's make it stand for Dumbledore's Army, because that's the Ministry's worst fear, isn't it?"

There was a good deal of appreciative murmuring and laughter at this.

"It's a good name, but it might cause some problems in the future," said Danny.

"All in favour of the DA?" said Hermione bossily, kneeling up on her cushion to count,"That's a majority, motion passed!"

She pinned the piece of parchment with all of their signatures on it on to the wall and wrote across the top in large letters:

DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY

"Right," said Harry, when she had sat down again, 'shall we get practising then? I was thinking, the first thing we should do is Expelliarmus, you know, the Disarming Charm. I know it's pretty basic but I've found it really useful..."

"Oh, please," said Zacharias Smith, rolling his eyes and folding his arms, "I don't think Expelliarmus is exactly going to help us against You-Know-Who, do you?"

"I've used it against him," said Harry quietly, "It saved my life in June"

Smith opened his mouth stupidly. The rest of the room was very quiet.

"But if you think it's beneath you, you can leave," Harry said.

Smith did not move. Nor did anybody else.

"OK," said Harry, his mouth slightly drier than usual with all these eyes upon him, "I reckon we should all divide into pairs and practise"

It felt very odd to be issuing instructions, but not nearly as odd as seeing them followed. Everybody got to their feet at once and divided up. Predictably, Neville was left partnerless.

"You can practise with me," Darry told him,

"Right, on the count of three, then, one, two, three," Harry counted.

Danny's defense was flawless, he managed to deflect almost every shot. Almost.

"Expelliarmus!" said Neville, and Danny, caught unawares, felt his wand fly out of his hand.

"I DID IT!" said Neville gleefully, "I've never done it before, I DID IT!"

"Good one!" said Danny encouragingly, deciding not to point out that in a real duel Neville's opponent was unlikely to be staring in the opposite direction with his wand held loosely at his side. "Listen, Neville, can you take it in turns to practise with Ron and Hermione for a couple of minutes so I can walk around and see how the rest are doing?"

Some people were doing quite well, some, like Smith, were pretty loosy. Danny saw, how twins were pointing their wands at his back and chuckled in amusement. He then noticed Harry talking with Cho. From what he could tell, Harry certainly liked her. Then Luna joined the conversation.

"Well, my dad is very supportive of any anti-Ministry action!" said Luna Lovegood proudly from just behind Harry; evidently she had been eavesdropping on his conversation while Justin Finch Fletchley attempted to disentangle himself from the robes that had flown up over his head. "He's always saying he'd never believe anything of Fudge; I mean, the number of goblins Fudge has had assassinated! And of course he uses the Department of Mysteries to develop terrible poisons, which he secretly feeds to anybody who disagrees with him. And then there's his Umgubular Slashkilter..."

"Hold on," Danny said,"Do I even want to know, what the last thing is?"

"No, you don't," Luna said solemnly.

-Laaterr-

Dolores was on her way to the class, when she saw Phantom walking nearby and whistling.

"Hello, Dolores," he said cheerfully and went away.

When she turned around the corner, she noticed how Danny was walking. She blinked in surprise.

"Hello, Dolores," he greeted and walked away.

Shaking her head, Umbridge approached the stairs. She saw TWO Phantoms on the other staircase.

"Hello, Dolores," they said in unison.

Professor increased her pace. She only continued to see more and more of her most hated student. By the time she got there, she was rapidly looking around, searching for Danny.

"Hello, Dolores"

"For Merlin's sake leave me ALONE!" She shouted, turning around and facing confused Albus Dumbledore.

She hated this kid.

A.N. I will understand if you think that this is filler chapter, 'cause for me it kinda is.


	10. Chapter X: Newest hobby

A.N. Here are some responses to comments.

Ghost iv: Yes, I planned meeting with Candy Lord, but it's gonna happen during Christmas, you will see why.

Fontei: You got a point here. Pairing is a tricky thing. Especially with Danny. C'mon, pairing him with anyone is NECROPHILIA, and that's illegal. I want to make an example of pairing dilemma. Dawning of the Sun. Masterpiece. Pairing is DxS. In that AU half ghosts are not able to have children with ghosts. That means that in the future royal family will be more and more human with every generation. Isn't very practical in the long perspective.

I planned from the beginning to add some DP ghosts in the future, btw.

TheFishKing: It's nice idea, but I'm afraid it will be repeating of the same joke. Plus I'm not sure how it can be done.

It was loud in the Slytherin dungeons that morning. People were preparing for today's Quidditch match. And against Griffindor, no less. Danny had a dilemma. He wanted to support his friends, but then he will be labeled as traitor in his own house. The same with another way around. Phantom noticed that some of his housemates were wearing crown shaped badges 'Weasley is our king'. He chuckled, he isn't the only king here.

He was now going to breakfast, meeting Luna by the way. Danny blinked in surprise, she had managed to procure a hat shaped like a life-size lion's head, which was perched precariously on her head.

"I'm supporting Gryffindor," said Luna, pointing unnecessarily at her hat, "Look what it does ..."

She reached up and tapped the hat with her wand. It opened its mouth wide and gave an extremely realistic roar that made everyone in the vicinity jump.

"Are you sure it's healthy, wearing so much weight on your head?" Danny asked.

"No, it's not heavy. It's good, isn't it?" said Luna happily, "I wanted to have it chewing up a serpent to represent Slytherin, you know, but there wasn't time. I hope you don't mind, being in Slytherin and all..."

"Nah, it's fine. Hey, every house has own seats, right?" Luna nodded, "May I sit with you?"

"You don't want to offend anyone?"

"Yep," Danny said popping 'p', making her to laugh maybe too hard.

But destiny had other plans. Professor McGonagall approached him at the table and asked Danny to come with her.

"Professor, is something wrong?"

"Mr.Work, would you like to be a comementator?"

-Llateer-

After breakfast Danny and Luna went together to the Qudditch pitch. It had the shape of an oval, five hundred feet long and a hundred and eighty feet wide, with a small central circle of approximately two feet in diameter. Hundreds of seats were raised in stands around the pitch so the spectators were high enough to see what was going on. At either end of the pitch were golden poles with hoops on the end. They then parted ways, as Danny went to the Professor's seats where commentator sat.

"Captains, shake hands," ordered the referee Madam Hooch, as Angelina and Montague reached each other. "Mount your brooms ..."

Madam Hooch placed her whistle in her mouth and blew.

The balls were released and the fourteen players shot upwards. Out of the corner of his eye Harry saw Ron streak off towards the goalhoops. Harry zoomed higher, dodging a Bludger, and set off on a wide lap of the pitch, gazing around for a glint of gold; on the other side of the stadium, Draco Malfoy was doing exactly the same.

"And it's Johnson...Johnson with the Quaffle, what a player that girl is, give me your number..."

"WORK!" Yelled Professor McGonagall.

"...I'm just kidding, Professor! Need to add a bit of interest...and she's ducked Warrington, she's passed Montague, she's...Ancients, that hurts...hit from behind by a Bludger from Crabbe...Montague catches the Quaffle, Montague heading back up the pitch and...nice present there from George Weasley, that's a Bludger to the head for Montague, he drops the Quaffle, caught by Katie Bell, Katie Bell of Gryffindor reverse-passes to Alicia Spinnet and Spinnet's away..."

Danny's commentary rang through the stadium and Harry listened as hard as he could through the wind whistling in his ears and the din of the crowd, all yelling and booing and singing.

"...dodges Warrington, avoids a Bludger, ouch, that's close, Alicia...and the crowd are loving this, just listen to them. Hey, how fella like me is supposed to comment here?"

And as Danny paused to listen, the song rose loud and clear from the sea of green and silver in the Slytherin section of the stands:

'Weasley cannot save a thing,

He cannot block a single ring,

That's why Slytherins all sing:

Weasley is our King.

'Weasley was born in a bin

He always lets the Quaffle in

Weasley will make sure we win

Weasley is our King.'

"...and Alicia passes back to Angelina!" Danny shouted loudly, and as Harry swerved, his insides boiling at what he had just heard, he knew Phantom was trying to drown out the words of the song, "Come on now, Angelina, looks like she's got just the Keeper to beat! SHE SHOOTS, SHE, aaaah ..."

Bletchley, the Slytherin Keeper, had saved the goal; he threw the Quaffle to Warrington who sped off with it, zig-zagging in between Alicia and Katie; the singing from below grew louder and louder as he drew nearer and nearer Ron.

'Weasley is our King,

Weasley is our King,

He always lets the Quaffle in

Weasley is our King. '

Harry could not help himself: abandoning his search for the Snitch, he wheeled around to watch Ron, a lone figure at the far end of the pitch, hovering before the three goalhoops while the massive Warrington pelted towards him.

"...and it's Warrington with the Quaffle, Warrington heading for goal, he's out of Bludger range with just the Keeper ahead..."

A great swell of song rose from the Slytherin stands below.

"FlAMES ABOVE, quiet, people! So it's the first test for new Gryffindor Keeper Weasley, obvious brother of Beaters Fred and George, you will recognize this red hair everywhere, a promising new talent on the team, well, good luck, Ron!"

But the scream of delight came from the Slytherins' end: Ron had dived wildly, his arms wide, and the Quaffle had soared between them straight through Ron's central hoop.

"Slytherin score!" came Danny's voice amid the cheering and booing from the crowds below, "so that's ten points to Slytherin"

The Slytherins sang even louder:

'WEASLEY WAS BORN IN A BIN

HE ALWAYS LETS THE QUAFFLE IN... '

"and Gryffindor back in possession and it's Katie Bell tanking up the pitch! Give me some water I'm thirsty!" cried Danny valiantly, though the singing was now so deafening that he could hardly make himself heard above it.

"Harry, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" screamed Angelina, soaring past him to keep up with Katie,"GET GOING!"

Harry realised he had been stationary in midair for over a minute, watching the progress of the match without sparing a thought for the whereabouts of the Snitch; horrified, he went into a dive and started circling the pitch again, staring around, trying to ignore the chorus now thundering through the stadium:

'WEASLEY IS OUR KING,

WEASLEY IS OUR KING ... '

There was no sign of the Snitch anywhere he looked; Malfoy was still circling the stadium just as he was. They passed one another midway around the pitch, going in opposite directions, and Harry heard Malfoy singing loudly.

"...and it's Warrington again," bellowed Danny, taking on the fluffy headphones he took out of nowhere, "who passes to Pucey, Pucey's off past Spinnet, come on now, Angelina, you can take him...nope, you can't...but nice Bludger from Fred Weasley I mean, George Weasley, oh, who cares, one of them! And Warrington drops the Quaffle and Katie Bell...er...drops it, too, so that's Montague with the Quaffle, Slytherin Captain Montague takes the Quaffle and he's off up the pitch, will Gryffindor block it?"

Harry zoomed around the end of the stadium behind the Slytherin goalhoops, willing himself not to look at what was going on at Ron's end. As he sped past the Slytherin Keeper, he heard Bletchley singing along with the crowd below:

'WEASLEY CANNOT SAVE A THING ...'

"...and Pucey's dodged Alicia again and he's heading straight for goal!"

"and Katie Bell of Gryffindor dodges Pucey, ducks Montague, nice swerve, Katie, and she throws to Johnson, Angelina Johnson takes the Quaffle, she's past Warrington, she's heading for goal, come on now, Angelina...Griffindor score! It's forty-ten, forty-ten to Slytherin and Pucey has the Quaffle. Awesome lion, Luna!" Danny shouted, hearing her hat roaring.

"Looks like seekers found a snitch. Malfoy and Potter are now neck and neck...They are reaching for it...and...HARRY CAUGHT THE SNITCH!" He continued,"Oh, that must be painful," Danny added, seeing Harry being hit with Bludger.

-Later-

During another UGH meeting Phantom learned that Fred and George, as well as Harry, got life ban for playing Qudditch. He assured them, that there is nothing to worry about, since DADA professors don't stay for longer than a year. And they are working on making it the worst year of her life. Then there was Hagrid. There were news that half giant returned on his teaching position. Now Danny was making his way to the Care of Magical Creatures.

The High Inquisitor was nowhere to be seen, which is good for her, as he was walking towards Hagrid, who stood waiting for students. on the edge of the Forest. He stood over the class, being very tall. Hagrid had a huge bushy brown beard. He did not present a reassuring sight; the bruises tinged with green and yellow and some of his cuts still seemed to be bleeding. As though to complete the ominous picture, Hagrid was carrying what looked like half a dead cow over his shoulder.

"We're workin' in here today!" Hagrid called happily to the approaching students, jerking his head back at the dark trees behind him,"Bit more sheltered! Anyway, they prefer the dark"

"What prefers the dark?" Danny heard Malfoy say sharply to Crabbe and Goyle, a trace of panic in his voice, "What did he say prefers the dark...did you hear?"

"Ready?" said Hagrid cheerfully, looking around at the class, "Right, well, I've bin savin' a trip inter the Forest fer yer fifth year. Thought we'd go an' see these creatures in their natural habitat. Now, what we're studyin' today is pretty rare, I reckon I'm probably the on'y person in Britain who's managed ter train 'em"

"And you're sure they're trained, are you?" said Malfoy, the panic in his voice even more pronounced, "Only it wouldn't be the first time you'd brought wild stuff to class, would it?"

The Slytherins murmured agreement and a few Gryffindors looked as though they thought Malfoy had a fair point, too.

"What wild stuff?" Danny asked.

"He brought Hippogriff here and it bit me!"

"Hippogriffs are proud animals, they don't attack just like that, have you insulted it?"

Hagrid smiled. Looks like trio was right about Danny being different. And knowing about Magical Creature sure adds some points to Hagrid's sympathy. He then hoisted the dead cow a little higher on his shoulder and said that of course they are trained.

"So what happened to your face, then?" demanded Malfoy.

"Mind yer own business!" said Hagrid, angrily, "Now, if yeh've finished askin' stupid questions, follow me!"

He turned and strode straight into the Forest. Nobody seemed much disposed to follow. Except Danny, who was leading the rest of the class.

"Gather roun', gather roun'," Hagrid encouraged once they got to the place, where trees stood close together, blocking all the light, "Now, they'll be attracted by the smell 'o the meat but I'm going ter give em a call anyway, 'cause they'll like ter know it's me"

He turned, shook his shaggy head to get the hair out of his face and gave an odd, shrieking cry that echoed through the dark trees like the call of some monstrous bird. Nobody laughed: most of them looked too scared to make a sound. Suddenly, a dark blue mist came out of Danny's mouth.

A pair of blank, white, shining eyes were growing larger through the gloom and a moment later the dragonish face, neck and then skeletal body of a great, black, winged horse emerged from the darkness. It surveyed the class for a few seconds, swishing its long black tail, then bowed its head and began to tear flesh from the dead cow Hagrid dropped on the ground with its pointed fangs.

"Oh, an' here comes another one!" said Hagrid proudly, as a second black horse appeared out of the dark trees, folded its leathery-wings closer to its body and dipped its head to gorge on the meat, "Now ... put yer hands up, who can see 'em?"

Some people put their hands up. Neville, some Slytherin boy, Harry and Danny. Hagrid nodded to everyone.

"Yeah ... yeah, I knew you'd be able ter, Harry," he said seriously, "An' you too, Neville, eh? An'..."

"Excuse me," said Malfoy in a sneering voice, "but what exactly are we supposed to be seeing?"

For an answer, Hagrid pointed at the cow carcass on the ground. The whole class stared at it for a few seconds, then several people gasped and Parvati squealed. Harry understood why: bits of flesh stripping themselves away from the bones and vanishing into thin air had to look very odd indeed.

"What's doing it?" Parvati demanded in a terrified voice, retreating behind the nearest tree, "What's eating it?"

"Thestrals," said Hagrid proudly and Hermione and Danny gave a soft 'Oh!' of comprehension at Harry's shoulder, "Hogwarts has got a whole herd of 'em in here. Now, who knows why some o' yeh can see 'em an' some can't?"

Hermione and Phantom raised their hands.

"Go on then," said Hagrid, beaming at Danny.

"The only people who can see Thestrals," he said, "are people who have seen death"

"Tha's exactly right," said Hagrid solemnly, "ten points ter Slytherin," he never thought he will say this words, "Now, Thestrals..."

"Hem, hem"

"NOT YOU AGAIN!" Danny groaned.

Professor Umbridge had arrived. She was standing a few feet away from Harry, wearing her green hat and cloak again, her clipboard at the ready.

"Oh, hello!" Hagrid said, smiling, having located the source of the noise.

"You received the note I sent to your cabin this morning?" said Umbridge, in the same loud, slow voice she had used with him earlier, as though she were addressing somebody both foreign and very slow, "Telling you that I would be inspecting your lesson?"

"Oh, yeah," said Hagrid brightly, "Glad yeh found the place all righ'! Well, as you can see...or, I dunno...can you? We're doin' Thestrals today..."

"I'm sorry?" said Professor Umbridge loudly, cupping her hand around her ear and frowning, "What did you say?"

Hagrid looked a little confused.

"Er...Thestrals!" he said loudly, "Big...er...winged horses, yeh know!"

He flapped his gigantic arms hopefully. Professor Umbridge raised her eyebrows at him and muttered as she made a note on her clipboard: "Has ... to ... resort ... to ... crude ... sign ... language"

"Says the one who croaked like a frog some time ago!" Said Danny in singsong voice.

Hagrid turned to Harry.

"Are they always like that?" He asked his student quietly.

"Always"

"Well ... anyway ..." said Hagrid, turning back to the class and looking slightly flustered, "erm ... what was I sayin?"

"Appears ... to ... have ... poor ... short ... term ... memory," muttered Umbridge, loudly enough for everyone to hear her.

"And that's what we hear from old hag with sclerosis"

"Quiet," she growled.

"Oh, yeah," said Hagrid, throwing an uneasy glance at Umbridge's clipboard, but ploughing on valiantly, "Yeah, I was gonna tell yeh how come we got a herd. Yeah, so, we started off with a male an' five females. This one," he patted the first horse to have appeared, "name o' Tenebrus, he's my special favourite, firs' one born here in the Forest"

"Are you aware," Umbridge said loudly, interrupting him, "that the Ministry of Magic has classified Thestrals as "dangerous"?"

Hagrid merely chuckled.

"Thestrals aren' dangerous! All righ', they might take a bite outta yeh if yeh really annoy them"

"Shows ... signs ... of... pleasure ... at ... idea ... of... violence," muttered Umbridge, scribbling on her clipboard again. That caused Danny to roar with laughter.

"Are...are you kidding me?! You...are the one who cuts kids open!" He said, gasping for air.

"Are you aware that you already got detentions for the whole year, Mr. Work?" He just grinned.

"Really?! That means I can do whatever I want and you will not be able to do anything!" Dolores paled because he made a good point. She wouldn't try to expel him. As long as he here, she can accuse Dumbledore for accepting him in school. She also didn't want to take points from his house, plus it's not like he cared.

-Laterr-

Oh, how Umbridge regretted saying this words. Danny realized his immunity and started to torment her more. Like in that day.

Dolores walked through the corridors for lunch. All the way students started to laugh at the mere sight of her, which she didn't pay attention at first. But after some time it became very annoying.

When she entered the hall, everyone, even some members of the staff, started to snicker.

"Why is everyone laughing, Dumbledore?!" Umbridge demanded to know.

"Do you have a mirror on you, Dolores?" She took out the pink mirror from her handbag.

Umbridge immediately screamed. Well, it was very nice Afro haircut.

A.N. I'm a bit confused. In the book only a few events were mentioned, and then BAM! Events of this chapter should be during the end of Autumn. Maybe I missed mention of time skip, I dunno.


	11. Chapter XI: Hail to the King

A.N. I wrote this chapter with sleepy mind, so I added some details now. Enjoy!

Danny's birthday went calm. It just so happened to be at the day of another DA meeting. As he planned, there were some Slytherin students there. Of course, most of them said, that they just don't want to fail their OWL's. But that's what this organization was created for - to train the students for the hardships ahead, let it be the Dark Lord or important exam. Phantom pointed one thing. If they all will pass with flying colors, than Ministry would think that their 'reforms' are successful, which is bad, but it still wasn't worthy enough to fail intentionally.

During last trip to Hogsmeade the twins bought a big cake and smuggled a lot of bottles with Butterbeer. It was very fun party, which took place in the Room of Requirements. Thankfully, it was soundproof, or the sound of crystal chandelier, falling on the ground and shattering would be heard all across the castle. Looking around at the moment, he noticed, how friendly people were to each other. Seriously, even Slytherins and Griffindors were chatting friendly. Looks like the Hat was right, he really is able to unite everyone.

Danny received some presents. The twins' present was a coupon for sixty percent discount in their future shop, which is active for the rest of his life, or afterlife, but they didn't know that. Hermione gave him a book, surprise, surprise. Harry and Ron just bought a bag of candies. But that was more than enough for halfa. Luna gifted Danny a necklace, made from Gurdyroots. As she said, it should repel Gulping Plimpy. Thankfully, he could put a spell to remove it's strong smell of onion. Clockwork sent a letter, saying that he will get his special present later.

Now, the day has come. Since he woke up, Danny had the feeling of doubt. Was he really making the right decision? He shook his head, of course it was right. It was time to bring the order to the anarchic place, named Ghost Zone. Then Phantom wondered about the other thing, how was he supposed to get there? 'Leave it to Dad,' he thought.

There was the delicious smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the corridors. The spirit of Holiday was everywhere, even in the classrooms. Well, besides DADA, but it was always like that. Danny was just reading the fresh issue of Quibbler. Again, junk, but interesting. He casually put his legs on the table. Umbridge only glared at him, but she kept reminding herself that it's for the Ministry. Everyone envied exchange student.

-Later-

When the time of dinner has come, everyone came down to celebrate in the Great Hall. It was currently decorated according the celebration. A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. The one absent detail is some epic and slow music on the background.

The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet. However, this time it was filled with full bowls of candies, since it's Halloween. Danny wasn't talking, just thinking and waiting for something big to happen.

"Hey, Danny," asked Daphne Greengrass. She was one of the members of DA, despite being in Parkinson's inner circle. Danny looked up.

"What?" He asked.

"You were quiet during the whole dinner, it's not like you"

"Sorry, I just found out something, and there is a lot to think about"

"What do you..."

Before she finished her question, the blue mist came out of Danny's mouth. Normally, nobody will pay attention to this, since everyone got used to it. But Phantom never got up immediately, rapidly looking around. He could sence not just ghosts or undead, he was able to understand, who exactly that was, if Danny sensed them before.

"No, no, no, please not him," he said. People noticed that worry wasn't because of fear, more like...annoyance?

On the Griffindor table, Harry noticed Danny's distress, and was reminded about Halloween night four years ago, when Quirell let the troll inside of the castle.

"Why Danny looks so worried?" He asked his friends.

"Maybe that has something to do with him being so quiet lately?" It came out more like a question out of Ron's mouth.

Suddenly booming sound was heard. Then another one. Some candles were extinguished, and the light dimmed in the remaining ones. And finally, the doors of the Great Hall burst open with a thunderous noise. Some people fainted at what they saw, others only watched in horror. In the doorway was standing a figure, who was wearing black medieval armor. No one could see his face, hidden under darkness, given by the helmet, and only two glowing green dots, representing his eyes, were looking upon everyone present, looking for sertain person. On his hip was wicked looking green sword with pumpkin engraved on the handle. The Fright Knight, the Spirit of Halloween and scourge of both muggles, wizards and ghosts alike.

Teachers didn't plan to lose their time, so they immediately started to shoot the spells at the unwanted visitor. But ghosts have an immunity to the spells, especially Avada Kedavra, since they are already dead. Merlin doesn't count since he is ghost wizard. So Fright was simply ignoring them. He doesn't like wizards, though.

Interesting fact, ghosts from Ghost Zone are considered demons in Wizarding World. Well, the name was given long ago, seeing how ghosts possessed 'demons'' abilities from the books. Muggles realized that they are GHOSTS, not demons. Wizards still call them that, however, not even thinking that thay might be ghosts. So, technically, Phantom is going to be the king of Hell. Speaking of...

"ENOUGH!" He shouted, abruptly stopping the fight. Fright Knight stopped because he finally saw the Prince. Wizards stopped because of surprise.

"May I ask you, Fright, WHY are you bursting in like that and scare the shit out of everyone?!" Everyone was frozen in shock. Work just shouted on THE Fright Knight! He questioned THE Bringer of Fear. They all were expecting him to attack the insane student, but he did the last thing they thought he will do. The Spirit of Halloween sat on his knee and bowed.

"Scaring this wizards wasn't my intention, milord," everyone's jaws dropped. Did he just...

"What's the meaning of this, Work?!" Umbridge screeched. This lady certainly could use some common sense. Especially, when Fright was nearby.

"HOW DARE YOU!" He took out his sword, getting up, and pointed it at her, mere centimeters from her throat. Some students wanted him to proceed,"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK WITH PRINCE PHANTOM IN SUCH MANNER!" Everyone was shocked yet again.

"Fright Knight, calm down," nobody has seen Danny speak like that before. It was calm and ordering tone, which was completely opposite of his usual happy-go-lucky attitude. And Fright obeyed.

"Mr. Work, is that true what Fright Knight said?" Asked Dumbledore now genuinely curious. Danny chuckled.

"Not entirely," he bowed slightly,"Sir Daniel James Phantom, Sebastokrator of Acropolis, Count of Aragon, Lord of the Infinite Realms, and that's the ones, which aren't hereditary," everyone was in silent shock at all this titles and the fact that Phantom acquired them all by himself.

"But why is your last name is Phantom?" Danny wanted to answer, but he remembered Clockwork's letter, 'Don't say that you are adopted'

"It's...my mother's last name. I go by 'Work' in Britain. Anyways," he turned to the Fright Knight with serious look," why are you here?"

"I'm here to take you to your father," he answered.

"That's not what I meant. Why are YOU here?"

"I expressed my will to serve you, sire," Fright bowed his head.

"Before me you served Pariah," everyone gasped at the name of 'Demon king', "what have you done? You betrayed him at the first possibility. Then you worked for Vlad, and now you are betraying him. Why should I trust you?"

"Pariah treated me like a worm, Plasmius - like a pawn. I'm sure, that you will treat me like a loyal friend," Fright got down on the knee again and took his sword,"as a sign of my loyalty, I ask you to accept the Soul Shredder, the symbol of power," everyone was watching the exchange with mild interest, learning more about Danny's past. They were surprised by the trust Fright Knight was giving him and awaited for his decision.

"Rise, Fright Knight, I believe you," he did as was told. Then blue portal appeared.

"We will take leave now. Will be back by breakfast!" Phantom declared as the ghost and half ghost stepped inside. He then sticked his head out.

"By the way, Jane. If you or anyone else will spill it, then Frighty will come after you. Tata!" With that he and portal dissapeared.

"BLOODY HELL, what just happened?!" Ron shouted, voicing everyone's thoughts.

-Ghost Zone-

Danny wasn't expecting SO much people. He felt all the emotions anyone could feel. Dread about the responsibility he will have, embarrassment under all this looks. Danny saw them, and his core filled with confidence. They looked at him with sympathy, with hope. And he WILL be the king they need. Even his enemies weren't holding any anger or envy.

They were in the former Pariah's Keep. The giant red castle, which no one ever dared approach before. Danny never had a good look on it. The only time he was here, was during final battle against Ghost King. You aren't sightseeing when you are fighting against a GOD. If Danny wasn't studying in Hogwarts, he sure would be in awe. However, compared to it, the Keep was just a hut in the middle of nowhere. But by itself, the castle still was impressive. It still needs rebuilding, though.

The duo arrived to the throne room. Unlike on the outside, there were only ghosts, who were representing the elite. In the center of the room was pedestrial with the Crown of Fire, which steadily flickered with green flames. By the side stood Clockwork, smiling. Danny approached the pedestrial and sat on one knee.

"Dear guests," Clockwork started to speak, "We all came here to see the event, which will determine the future of the Ghost World. For centuries we lived under horrible tyrants, then in the state of anarchy. Now, this time is over, today we see the rise of the new king, he looked at his son, "Daniel Phantom, do you swear to always be there for your subjects?"

"I swear," Phantom answered.

"Do you swear to protect the Ghost Zone, even by the cost of your afterlife?"

"I swear"

"Do you swear not to abuse the power given to you?"

"I swear"

"Than, as the Master of Time, I declare Daniel James Phantom the new High King of All Ghosts!" Clockwork boomed as the hall was filled with cheers.

He took the crown, not being concerned by the flames, engulfing his wrist, and placed it on Phantom's head. Green fire started to flicker faster. Then, the white flash lightened the whole room.

"Long live the King!"

-Later-

Danny felt a hand on his shoulder, turning around he saw Clockwork.

"It's hard to describe, how proud I am for you, Daniel," he said with the smile. Danny smiled as well.

"Thanks Dad, that means a lot to me," his face became thoughtful again,"Dad, you see the future, can you tell me..."

"Daniel, I don't need to have a foresight to know that you will make a great ruler. I'm saying that not as the Time Master, but as your father," Danny just hugged him in response.

"There are some more things I wish to talk with you"

"What is it?"

"Well firstly, happy birthday," Clockwork smiled, " here is my small present"

He took out the pocket clock. They had Danny's typical color sheme with his emblem on behind. There was a single button on the top.

"It works the same way as my staff, only it stops the time maximum for a minute"

"AWESOME! Thanks Dad!" Phantom exclaimed, taking the present and causing Time Master to chuckle.

"No need to thank me, son. But we have another matter to discuss about. There is another Horcrux. It is inside the Room of Requirements"

"Wh-what?! But how..."

"Near the door you should think 'I need the room, where Horcrux is'. You will find it there. Now for the second matter. You now have a huge power, which affects your appearance"

"What do you mean?" Clockwork summoned a mirror.

Danny has changed. His hair became neverending white fire. The blue eye started to glow green and the other became crimson red. His skin became much paler. There are also some additions, such as sharp fangs and pointy ears.

"Eh, what am I supposed to do?" Phantom asked, freaked out.

"You can seal the power inside some object, the cane, for example. You can even make your wand the part of it"

"Wow, and how can I do that?"

"Just concentrate"

Danny started to think about creating the item. Immediately, the crown and ring dissappeared. The wand flew out of his pocket, floating in the air. Danny covered his eyes to protect them from bright light. On the place of it was long black cane with silver handle, on the handle was engraved the same skull as on the Ring of Rage. Phantom took it in his hands, feeling like it was part of him.

"Now look in the mirror," Danny did as was told and saw that he looks as usual for the most part. Fangs and ears still stayed. But before he could say something, Clocwork added.

"Don't worry about them, the only thing you need to hide is the tail," Danny immediately looked on his back and saw black arrow tail. Before he could freak out again, his father continued.

"What were you expecting from 'King of Demons', hm?" He chuckled.

"I hate this job already"

A.N. What can I say, I like Blue Exorcist. Plus the concept seems logical to me.


	12. Chapter XII: The Order

Every resident of Hogwarts was rethinking what happened during yesterday feast. Why shouldn't they? It's not like Spirit of Halloween bargs in every day. And there is also the matter of Daniel Work. Everyone thought him to be just a happy-go-lucky prankster, NOT the one who can boss Fright Knight around. However, they admitted that there was something strange about him. Starting from the fact that Work's magic always had an unmistakable deathly green color.

Everyone who wasn't a clueless idiot could notice that 'Phantom', as Fright called him, was hiding something. You wouldn't get any information about his past from him. He would either avoid the questioning or his answer would be too vague. Except a few moments, like when Danny told the first years about dragon. And the main question is, why he has a title of Prince?

Harry, Ron and Hermione weren't the exception. Completely opposite, they were thinking more than anyone else.

"So...you reckon that Danny is half human?" Ron asked as the trio was walking down for breakfast.

"I'm sure of that," Hermione said confidently.

"And why?"

"Do you remember what happened during the first DADA lesson with Umbridge?"

"Yeah, he snapped after she mentioned half breeds..." Harry said.

"That's not all, I saw how his eye flashed green," Hermione added.

"Green? What is he, then?" Ron asked.

"I don't know..." boys stared wide eyed. It was the first time Hermione said that she didn't know something. She noticed that, "I mean...I have suspicions, but I hope I'm wrong"

"What is it?" Harry asked. Something told him that he didn't want to know. Suddenly Peeves emerged from the corner.

"Well, well, dip me in chocolate and call me biscuit if it's not Potty Wee Potter and friends!"

"What do you need, Peeves?" Ron asked annoyed.

"Oh, no biggie, really, I was just minding my business," Peeves answered and blew a raspberry.

"Go away then," said Harry.

"Nope," he blew another one.

The best way to deal with Peeves is ignore him, that's the fact. So, the trio went to breakfast. The chatter was very loud, they weren't the only ones making theories here. Even at the staff table was a conversation. The breakfast was coming to the end, but no one was in hurry. Curiosity made them stay in the Great Hall, because Danny said that he will return during it. And the doors opened wild with loud sound, revealing Danny standing there. Everyone was stunned by how Phantom looked, they all noticed pointed ears. In his hand he twirled black cane with silver handle.

"Looks like I was right," muttered Hermione to no one.

"Morning!" Danny shouted cheerfully. Some people could swear they saw fangs. The ones, who didn't see them, were confused about a few faints. Phantom started to walk to his table.

"Mr. Work," Dumbledore called, causing Danny to look at Headmaster, "We all are genuinely curious about where you left in such...unusual circumstances"

"Well, I am a king now," he shrugged nonchalantly. Everyone stared wide eyed, besides Albus, who kept neutral face, "I left for the coronation"

"That's another thing, king of what?" Danny grinned. Now everyone saw sharp canines.

"I'm afraid that's not yours or anyone else's business," he said, putting some bacon on his plate.

"Work"

"Hello, Jane, missed me?" Danny looked at Dolores, smiling sweetly.

"May I ask, what are you?" She asked with her sugarcoated voice.

"Nope, you may not," he answered, taking a sip of coffee.

"You are clearly not human..." Umbridge started.

"No, duh. Half human"

"It's not important. As a half breed you fall under educational decree number fifteen, which means you are not allowed to approach the normal people," Dolores said, singing inside at her supposed revenge. But it instantly disappeared after he started to laugh.

"Well first, I'd like to see you try to fulfill this order. Secondly, I'm a king, remember? Diplomatic immunity rules!" Danny threw his hands in the air, "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to eat"

-Later-

'Ancients, it's so uncomfortable,' Phantom thought, shifting on his seat, 'I hate this tail'.

"Is something wrong, Mr.Work?" Asked Professor Flitwick, the Charms Professor.

"Nope," from his tone everyone could understand that he was lying, but Professor didn't press the matter and continued the lesson. It will take some time for Danny to get used to the newest addition. The doors to the classroom opened and Snape walked inside.

"Headmaster wants you to visit his office, Mr. Work, follow me"

Danny followed Professor to the corridor with dead end. There was stony gargoyle near one of the walls.

"Fizzing Whizzbee," Snape said to it.

The gargoyle sprang to life and leapt aside; the wall behind it split in two to reveal a stone staircase that was moving continually upwards like a spiral escalator. The two of them stepped on to the moving stairs; the wall closed behind them with a thud and they were moving upwards in tight circles until they reached the highly polished oak door with the brass knocker shaped like a griffin and went inside.

"Oh, it's you, Professor Snape ... and ... ah"

Dumbledore was sitting in a high-backed chair behind his desk; he leaned forward into the pool of candlelight illuminating the papers laid out before him. He was wearing a magnificently embroidered purple and gold dressing.

"Sit down, please, Mr. Work," Albus gestured to the seat in front of him, "lemon drop?" He offered.

"Thanks," Danny smiled and popped yellow candy inside of his mouth.

"You are not in trouble, Danny, if that's what you think about. I just wanted to discuss some matters," at his questioning eyebrow, Headmaster continued.

"What's your opinion about Voldemort's return?" Danny chuckled.

"I think I made it clear already"

"There are also other people, who believe it. Besides two of us and some of your fellow students. We formed an organization, named Order of the Phoenix, to fight against Voldemort and his followers"

"Albus, are you sure we can trust him?" Snape asked.

"Let me guess, Ministry doesn't know and wouldn't be happy about it," said Danny. Dumbledore nodded.

"You are quite right, we are keeping it's existence in secret. Don't worry, Severus, I'm sure Danny wouldn't tell anyone"

"But WHY are you telling me that?" Phantom asked.

"I'd like you to join the Order," Danny's eye widened in surprise. Snape voiced his thoughts.

"Albus, how can you make such an offer to him?! He is not even of age yet!" He exclaimed in shock.

"Well, I can make an argument here. By my homeland standards I'm an adult. I agree, Professor Dumbledore," Albus beamed at him.

"Wonderful! Your introduction will be this evening. Be here at nine in the evening sharp"

-Laateerrr-

Danny was on his way to obtain another Horcrux, that's why he was going to the seventh floor. There wasn't anyone around, since DA meeting wasn't planned for today. Turning around the corner, he saw Luna, who looked like she was searching for something. He came closer and greeted her.

"Hello, Danny," she responded.

"What are you looking for?"

"I thought I saw Blibbering Humdinger"

"Maybe it can become invisible?"

"That can be the reason why people never saw them," Luna agreed, "but why are you here, we don't have a meeting today"

"I...need to find something in the Room of Requirements"

"Do you want me to go with you?"

"Hm, well, if you want so. Together will be easier"

They walked to the place, where the door was supposed to be. Danny started to walk from side to side, thinking about finding the Horcrux. Immediately, the giant door appeared on the wall. Luna and Phantom walked inside. They were in a place the size of a cathedral with the appearance of a city, its towering walls built of objects hidden by thousands of long-gone students. Danny immediately got the same feeling as at the vault.

"Somewhere near here," Danny muttered, "Somewhere...somewhere..."

Deeper and deeper into the labyrinth he went, looking for needed object. There it was, right ahead, the blistered old cupboard, and on top of it, the pockmarked stone warlock wearing a dusty old wig and what looked like an ancient discolored tiara. Danny looked at it closely. He was just able to make out the tiny words etched upon it; WIT BEYOND MEASURE IS MAN'S GREATEST TREASURE.

"What is this?" Phantom asked.

"Diadem of Ravenclaw," Luna said in awe. Danny raised an eyebrow, which she noticed.

"Each of the four founders of Hogwarts had own magical artifact. Godric Griffindor had a sword, the one Harry defeated basilisk with. Salazar Slytherin had a locket. This diadem belonged to Rawena Ravenclaw, people say it gives more intelligence to the wearer. There is also the cup of Helga Hufflepuff"

"The cup?"

"It should be golden, with badgers engraved on it," Danny's eyes widened in remembrance before he shook his head, "why do you need the diadem?" She asked.

"I..."

"There is something dark inside of it...are you going to destroy the darkness?" Phantom blinked in surprise then nodded in confirmation.

They walked outside. Once the door dissappeared behind them, Luna broke the silence.

"Your tail is sticking out," she said calmly. Danny immediately started to hide it, then stopped dead on his tracks, pun intended. He stared at her wide eyed.

"You...you don't freak out?"

"You obviously are half demon. But you are a nice person, so there is no need to be disturbed," Phantom smiled.

"Well, we prefer to be called 'ghosts', actually," he said as they started to walk away.

"Why so?"

"You see..."

-Laaterr-

Danny went to Dumbledore's office when the needed hour came. The Headmaster was already waiting for him, smiling.

"Alright, Danny, in order to get to the Headquarters we will need to Apparate there, so take my hand," Phantom did as was told.

For a moment he felt like all the air was knocked out of his lungs, and the space around pressed on him, trying to turn half ghost into pancake. Then the two appeared on some street, but Danny was too busy, gasping for air. His teleportation was WAY better, how can wizards travel with this Apparation?

"My apologies, the first time is always like that," said Dumbledore as Phantom started to look around.

They were standing on a patch of unkempt grass in the middle of a small square. The grimy fronts of the surrounding houses were not welcoming; some of them had broken windows, glimmering dully in the light from the streetlamps, paint was peeling from many of the doors and heaps of rubbish lay outside several sets of front steps.

"Where are we?" Phantom asked, but Albus said quietly, "In a minute"

"Ah, here it is," he muttered, raising what looked like a silver cigarette lighter into the air and clicking it.

The nearest streetlamp went out with a pop. He clicked the unlighter again; the next lamp went out; he kept clicking until every lamp in the square was extinguished and the only remaining light came from curtained windows and the sickle moon overhead.

"Wow, what is that thing?" Danny asked.

"This is Put-Outer. It'll take care of any Muggles looking out of the window, see? Now let's go"

He led Phantom from the patch of grass, across the road and on to the pavement.The muffled pounding of a stereo was coming from an upper window in the nearest house. A pungent smell of rotting rubbish came from the pile of bulging bin-bags just inside the broken gate.

"Here," Albus said, giving a piece of parchment to Danny and holding his lit wand close to it, so as to illuminate the writing, "Read and memorise"

Danny looked down at the piece of paper. It said:

'The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London'

Suddenly, a battered door emerged out of nowhere between numbers eleven and thirteen, followed swiftly by dirty walls and grimy windows. It was as though an extra house had inflated, pushing those on either side out of its way. Danny gaped at it. The stereo in number eleven thudded on. Apparently the Muggles inside hadn't felt anything.

"Come on now, we have a meeting to attend to," said Dumbledore.

Phantom stepped over the threshold into the almost total darkness of the hall. He could smell damp, dust, and a sweetish, rotting smell; the place had the feeling of a derelict building. He heard a soft hissing noise and then old-fashioned gas lamps sputtered into life all along the walls, casting a flickering insubstantial light over the peeling wallpaper and threadbare carpet of a long, gloomy hallway, where a cobwebby chandelier glimmered overhead and age-blackened portraits hung crooked on the walls. Danny heard something scuttling behind the skirting board. Both the chandelier and the candelabra on a rickety table nearby were shaped like serpents.

Phantom was led by Dumbledore to the door, and he heard muffled sounds from inside of the room. The Headmaster made a gesture 'wait here' and went inside. Danny started to overhear the conversation.

"Albus, what's the point of this sudden meeting?" He heard some gruffy voice saying.

"I found a new member for the Order, Alastor"

"Oh, and who is that?" Asked another voice.

"You can come in now!" Dumbledore said and Danny walked inside.

All the members were unprepared for such development. They weren't expecting Work to be here. And they weren't recalling him having pointed ears.

"Albus, what's the meaning of this?" Asked redheaded woman. Danny had a suspicion that he knows her last name.

"Professor Dumbledore offered me and I agreed. And before anyone will say something, back home I'm an adult"

"You don't look like one," said Alastor.

"Because I'm sixteen"

"He is still too young, Albus!"

"I may be young, Mrs. Weasley," Danny said, "But since I was eleven I fought against many things: Two dragons on different occasions, bunch of giant robots," at their confused faces he added, "muggle golems, two shape shifters, the lady who fed from people's misery to make herself look young, was put and escaped from a highly guarded prison, stood against two armies numbering two hundred, and the other four hundred THOUSAND. Not mentioning, of course..." he made a pause, "taking down Pariah Dark"

No one made a sound, everyone was too shocked, even Dumbledore, who never heard his story. Tonks' jaw hit the floor and went under it. All of them felt sorry for the kid in front of them.

"Wait, you escaped the prison?" Sirius asked, Danny grinned, revealing his fangs.

"Yep, wrong accused and thrown there. I got out at the same day. I even threw the law book at the warden"

"Blamey, kid, how are you still alive?!" Alastor exclaimed. Wow, he impressed Mad-eye Moody. Danny roared with laughter, confusing everyone.

"We want a trust to be between us, right?" They nodded, "then I'll tell you something important about me. Please, don't freak out"

Danny took off his robes, revealing black T-shirt and jeans, however that wasn't what called everyone's attention. It was a long black, arrowed tail, which was sticking out. Everyone stared wide eyed, some unconsciously gripped their wands.

"Are...are you..." Remus tried to say.

"Yes, I'm half 'demon'," he made an air quotes, "when will wizards realize that we are ghosts?"

"Ghosts?" Asked Moody.

"Aha," Danny nodded,"we ARE ghosts, just solid and possess more abilities"

"But that will mean..." Dumbledore started.

"You are dead!" Molly gasped. Danny smiled sadly.

"I'm not dead, nor am I alive. I always walk in between. You heard me, I'm half ghost"

"So was your mother..." Remus said.

"Oh, no, no. Both my parents were humans, my condition has something to do with how I died," Danny took off an eyepatch, everyone saw his glowing deathly green eye and gasped.

"Did you say 'were'?" Arthur Weasley asked carefully. Danny looked at the ceiling and sighed.

"I wasn't born as Work, Dumbledore should know that I'm adopted. It happened when I was six, too young to remember every detail, but somehow, I did. My birth last name is Fenton. My parents both were muggles, I also had an older sister, Jasmine, but she preferred Jazz," he said, smiling slightly, "My parents were scientists, brilliant ones, I must say. Even if we needed to fight against our dinner from time to time," Danny chuckled as everyone was confused, "But, they had their not so smart moments. They were ghost hunters, specializing on my type"

"One day, they built a 'ghost portal', something they worked on since being students. It should take you to another world, The Ghost Zone, our world. But when they plugged it in...all I remember are some sounds and loud explosion afterwards. I was the only one to survive. And, that was when Dad found me and took me in. This accident made me like that," he gestured to himself.

"That...that was very sad story, Danny," Albus was the only one who was able to say anything.

"I know, but it helps to share with someone," Danny chuckled, "The funny thing is that muggles achieved something wizards couldn't, they granted immortality, I still can die in a fight, but at some point I would just stop aging. But enough of that, I need to tell you something important"

"And what is it?"

"Professor Dumbledore, do you know why Voldemort," flinch,"didn't die that night fourteen years ago?" Albus wasn't expecting that.

"I have some suspicions..."

"If that suspicion are Horcruxes, than you are right. He has SEVEN of them," Danny said, shocking everyone, "Be back in a moment," with that, to everyone's astonishment, he disappeared in a cloud of smoke, then appeared with a small bag in his hands.

"Before anyone will ask, It's just one of ghost powers"

"What's in the bag?"

Suddenly Danny saw some small creature walking in the corridor. It was dressed in rags and had long ears. In his hands he held a locket, which, to Phantom's surprise, gave 'Horcrux feeling'.

"Hey, you, come here, please," Danny said. Little guy looked terrified at his appearance, "I'm not going to bite, just come here," the house elf obeyed.

"Who are you?"

"I...I'm Kreacher...s-sir," he really was afraid of half ghost. Everyone was surprised as well, and Sirius was jealous that Kreacher wasn't afraid of him as much.

"What is that locket you have?" Danny asked.

"Th-this is...Master Regulus' locket...he asked me to...to destroy it, but Kreacher can't do it. Kreacher tried...a lot of times..."

"Of course you wouldn't be able to. Let me try, please," Kreacher did as was told, "Yep, as I thought"

"What's wrong?" Sirius asked.

"Nothing, besides the fact that your house elf all this time was holding the piece of Voldemort's soul," everyone stared wide eyed, and Kreacher as well, "that's why you couldn't destroy it. You need a special touch. Luckily I can do it, but... you better walk out of the room, little guy," house elf obeyed.

"Why did you..."

"This is my more human like appearance, my power is kept inside this cane. I will be able to destroy them only with that power. I'm saying that so you don't freak out," with that the ring of moonlight appeared around his waist, then splitted in two and traveled up and down. The cane disappeared, leaving burning crown on his flaming hair. Now they understood why Danny warned them, this appearance really can scare an unprepared person. He bowed slightly.

"Daniel Phantom, the King of the Ghost Zone"

He took the locket in his hand, made another one intagible and put it inside the locket. Danny grimaced, it felt nasty. It was like something solid and at the same time liquid was dripping through his hand. He clenched a fist and took it out, like he was cleaning the garden from weeds. In his hand was a black mass, incased in green sphere. Danny started to burn it, the power of fire was given by crown, and in a mere seconds it evaporated.

At the meantime, Harry Potter and Dark Lord screamed in pain at the same second.

"Now let's repeat the process," Phantom said, opening the bag, "I found two more. Here they are," he took out the cup and diadem.

"The cup was interesting to get. Broke inside the Gringotts to get it"

"That was you?!" Almost everyone exclaimed.

"Well, they weren't expecting a ghost to rob them"

Then Danny repeated the process twice.

"Let's clear the situation. The first Horcrux was Riddle's diary, which Harry destroyed. Then we have the locket, the cup and diadem. It's four. I don't know about the others, though," he said and reverted back to 'more human' form.

"I believe that it can be your official mission for the Order," said Dumbledore and chuckled, Danny laughed.

"I'm doing that also because Voldemort breaks the laws of life and death. And believe me, Death doesn't like when someone tricks him. Farewell," with that Phantom teleported back to Hogwarts.

The members looked at each other. Looks like they got a trump card.

A.N. Ah, this headache is horrible. Someone kill me.


	13. Chapter XIII: Best day ever

"I hate this job," moaned Danny and dropped his head on a desk.

"Master, what's wrong?" Asked Cujo, coming closer.

"So much paperwork!"

Indeed, turning the whole dimension into centralized state wasn't an easy task. Millennias of anarchy made some of the citizens felt maybe too free and opposed their new ruler, being the cause of Danny's headache. Establishment of govermental structures, infrastructure, the normal laws were a primary task.

Other Slytherins were delighted to see Danny finally working on something, but they were confused at WHAT he was working on.

"What exactly is this?" Asked Draco, appearing from behind.

"Oh, Draco, just the person I need. Look at this pictures," Danny took out two blueprints, "and tell me, which one looks better in your opinion," Malfoy raised an eyebrow.

"I can't decide with my palace design, previous owner was...a bit old fashioned," Phantom explained. After some thinking, Draco pointed at the one in the left hand. It was huge three story building, with glass roof in the middle.

"Really? Hm, yeah I like this one more," Danny said and wrote something on a piece of parchment. To everyone's surprise the papers set on green fire and dissappeared.

It's common fact, that most of the pure blooded Slytherins hate half breeds, but Work just so happened to be a king, rich and influential figure. Plus, everyone just feared to get on his bad side, they see what's going on with Umbridge. She already seems like a nervous wreck, even if she tries to keep smile on her face.

"I'm bored and I have a free period. I will go visit Jane," Danny declared and rose up from his seat.

-Laater-

Dolores was currently having some rest from her most hated student. It was during DADA lessons with other classes when she could relax. But she wasn't so lucky right now. The room started to crumble. And some objects floated in the air. Umbridge at first thought that it was some student, but they all looked confused as well.

"Behold, you puny mortals," they heard some voice, "Because now, you will face an unbelievable, the most horrible and terrifying thing you have ever seen. BEHOLD THE POWER OF THE BOX GHOST!"

Blue skinned bulky guy appeared from the thin air and everyone started to laugh.

"STOP LAUGHING!" He shouted and objects flew in the air. Box Ghost started to throw them there and there. The aim was lousy, but that was enough to make everyone scream in fear.

"HAHAHA! YOU ARE NOTHING AGAINST THE GREAT BOX GHOST!" He laughed and flew through the wall.

Suddenly Danny opened the door and peaked inside.

"Has anyone seen floating overweight guy?" Students pointed at the wall.

"Thanks!" He shouted and closed the door, leaving absolutely white Dolores with her class.

-Laterrr-

December arrived, bringing with it more snow and a positive avalanche of homework for the fifth-years. Joy. It didn't matter for Danny, though, he was too busy with his newest duties of the king and the member of the Order. Hogwarts castle was filled with holiday decorations. That's why Phantom was wearing Christmas hat 24/7. But again, no one was surprised by that act.

Danny was keeping Harry a company most of the time. Ron and Hermione's prefect duties became more and more onerous as Christmas approached. They were called upon to supervise the decoration of the castle ('You try putting up tinsel when Peeves has got the other end and is trying to strangle you with it,' said Ron), to watch over first- and second-years spending their break-times inside because of the bitter cold ('And they're cheeky little snot-rags, you know, we definitely weren't that rude when we were in first year,' said Ron) and to patrol the corridors in shifts with Argus Filch, who suspected that the holiday spirit might show itself in an outbreak of wizard duels ('He's got dung for brains, that one,' said Ron furiously). They were so busy that Hermione had even stopped knitting elf hats and was fretting that she was down to her last three.

Together Harry and Danny shared their thoughts about where to spend the holidays. Danny was invited to the Burrow by Molly, and though he would love to go, he still wants to spend the Christmas with his family and ghost friends. Maybe Phantom would be able to arrange something. Surprisingly, Harry had almost the same conflict. He didn't want to spend the holidays at Hogwarts as he usually does. Harry wanted to celebrate with Weasleys as well, the thought of Christmas at The Burrow was truly wonderful, though slightly marred by Harry's guilty feeling that he would not be able to spend the holiday with Sirius. He wondered whether he could possibly persuade Mrs. Weasley to invite his godfather for the festivities.

When Danny has just arrived from coronation two months ago, he was cornered by Hermione. She was able to guess what Phantom was. Danny asked her to keep it in secret, but allowed to tell this to Harry and Ron. Needless to say, that they were shocked.

-Flashbaack-

"Are you sure you want to tell them?" Hermione asked as they walked to the Requirements Room, where they agreed to meet.

"Yep, it's a matter of time before they will find out, so I better tell them sooner than later"

Inside of the room were a comfy armchairs, a fireplace with the fire peacefully eating the fresh wood. All in all, it looked like Griffindore common room. Harry and Ron were waiting for them.

"So...what's the point of this meeting?" Ron asked.

"Well, I need to tell you something, guys," Danny said.

"You obviously have noticed a few changes in my look," Griffindor boys nodded,"there is the reason behind that. My other half became stronger. The only thing keeping myself from walking around in my other form is this cane, which seals almost all my power. But it can't hide everything"

"Then, what are you?" Harry asked. In response, black tail appeared from under Danny's robes. They stared wide eyed at it.

"I think that answers your question. Before you start, I'm GHOST, not demon, okay?" They were still gaping at his tail.

"Let's start from beginning..."

-Back to the preseeent-

Danny arrived early in the Room of Requirement for the last DA meeting before the holidays and was very glad he had, because when the torches burst into flame he saw that Dobby had taken it upon himself to decorate the place for Christmas. He could tell the elf had done it, because nobody else would have strung a hundred golden baubles from the ceiling, each showing a picture of Harry's face and bearing the legend: 'HAVE A VERY HARRY CHRISTMAS!'. Danny knew that little guy was warshipping him.

The door creaked open and Luna Lovegood entered, looking as dreamy as usual.

"Hello," she said vaguely, looking around at what remained of the decorations. 'These are nice, did you put them up?'

"No," said Danny, "it was Dobby the house-elf"

"Mistletoe," said Luna dreamily, pointing at a large clump of white berries placed almost over Danny's head, "Good thinking," she said very seriously, "It's often infested with Nargles"

"Hm, well, I owe little guy a thank you, then," said Danny, stretching sore place.

"Problem with tail?" Luna asked quietly. Phantom nodded.

"Have you tried wrapping it around your waist?" Danny made an 'o' with his mouth. How come he didn't think about it?

"Wow. Thanks, that should do the trick"

The practice followed soon after. After ten minutes on the Impediment Jinx, they laid out cushions all over the floor and started practising Stunning again. Space was really too confined to allow them all to work this spell at once; half the group observed the others for a while, then swapped over. Danny was paired with Neville again, and damn, this guy sure improved a lot. However, he still can fix his aim.

"You're getting really good," Harry said, beaming around at them, "When we get back from the holidays we can start doing some of the big stuff...maybe even Patronuses"

There was a murmur of excitement. Some people went out, wishing each other 'Merry Christmas' along the way, and and a few stayed.

"So, where are you going to spend holidays?" Danny asked Luna.

"Back home with my father. And what about you?"

"Maybe the same thing. I really miss my 'other friends' if you get what I mean," There was a silence after that, "Oh, I forgot. I have something for you, be right back"

Danny went somewhere and then returned with something hidden under piece of clothing, carrying it by handle. Students were eyeing this thing curiosly, including Luna. He put it on the ground, grinning.

"What is this?"

Danny quickly took off the cloth with loud 'Ta-Da'. No one was prepared for that. There was a small purple creature. It had horse's head with long yellow curled horn. The rest of it's body was covered in pentagonal scales. It had short legs. Creature's eyes looked at the humans and half ghost around and made strange noise, which sounded like mix of horse neigh and whistling.

"Crumple-Horned Snorkack!" Luna gasped, "Where did you find him?" she asked in excited tone.

"Actually, her. From the description you gave me, I recognized this buddy. They live at my homeland. Merry Christmas!"

"They exist?!" shocked students shouted.

"Told ya," Phantom said.

"Thank you!" Luna exclaimed and hugged Danny. He chuckled.

"Only hug?"

-Laaater-

Danny returned to Slytherin dorms with a stupid grin on his face. Every student was confused, besides the ones, who were present during event and were currently snickering.

"Master?" Cujo asked.

"What a wonderful day it is, isn't it?" Phantom said, still grinning like an idiot.

"What happened?" Draco asked.

"He kissed Lovegood!" Some girl squealed. All unaware students were staring at him in shock. Some passed galleons to each other, Danny's eyes widened in surprise.

"You...bet on me?" They nodded, suddenly afraid, "Well, congratulations for successful business plan," Danny shrugged.

Phantom walked to his dorm, preparing to jump on his bed, when he saw a piece of paper lying on it. Danny picked the letter up.

'Dear Daniel,

This is very important. Go to your usual spot in Forbidden Forest. The portal will open there.

Burn this letter and good luck,

Clockwork'

Phantom was alarmed by hurrying tone of this letter. He immediately burned it and ran out of the dorm.

-Later-

Danny was waiting on the spot for half an hour already, worrying more and more as the time went. Suddenly a portal appeared and he jumped inside.

He appeared in creepy place, and that says something if Phantom thought so. Shining metal bars, cold stony walls and floor. It was dark, yet he could see objects around him shimmering in strange light. Danny was floating around, searching for something, he didn't know what. Then Danny got a familiar feeling. Horcrux was near.

He hurried up to the source and heard someone screaming in pain. Turning around the corner he faced a horrible scene. There was a giant snake, which was near Arthur Weasley. He was seriously wounded, with bites and gashes. Phantom glared at the serpent. Stomping loudly he approached it. He transformed on his way and blasted it with full force, sending it flying.

The snake tried to take needed position, lifting the front part of it's body, preparing to attack, but Phantom was faster. He teleported close to it and pumped it into closest wall. Serpent moved it's tail, trying to trip it's enemy. He just turned his legs intangible. Phantom ignited his hands with green fire and the snake hissed in pain. If it's this is living Horcrux, then Voldemort should see him. He looked right into it's slit eyes.

"Listen up, Bald face," Phantom inhumanly growled, "I know you are watching. You are probably wondering who I am. But let me tell you something. You better run, run as far away as possible, because you just angered the King of Hell"

After that he hit it's head about the wall so hard, that the cracks appeared on it and snake fell on the ground dead. Black mist was coming from it's body. Danny changed back and ran to Arthur. He needed to make first aid fast. Accessing his core, Danny started to treat wounds. He took out the hand clock and pressed the button. They stopped ticking and Arthur wasn't bleeding. Danny has one minute.

When the time was up, Phantom almost fell down from exhaustion. But he couldn't, he needed to take Arthur to hospital. Danny picked him up easily and teleported. Luna once told him about St Mungo's hospital and he thanked the Ancients for it.

They had arrived outside a large, old-fashioned, red-brick department store called Purge Dowse Ltd. The place had a shabby, miserable air; the window displays consisted of a few chipped dummies with their wigs askew, standing at random and modelling fashions at least ten years out of date. Large signs on all the dusty doors read: 'Closed for Refurbishment'.

"This man is injured, he needs help!" Danny shouted. The dummy behind the glass gave a tiny nod and beckoned with its jointed finger, and Danny stepped right through the glass. Insides looked like typical hospital reception room.

"Help!" He shouted again. Doctors, or healers, as they are known to wizards, immediately hurried up, seeing an injured man in Danny's hands. He just hoped Arthur will be alright. With that Phantom dropped on the chair near Mr. Weasley's bed and fell asleep.

-Later-

Mr. Weasley was occupying the bed at the far end oi the ward beside the tiny window. He was propped up on several pillows and reading the Daily Prophet by the solitary ray of sunlight falling on to his bed. Arthur looked up as his family and Harry walked towards him and, seeing who it was, beamed.

"Hello!" he called, throwing the Prophet aside, "Bill just left, Molly, had to get back to work, but he says he'll drop in on you later"

"How are you, Arthur?" asked Mrs. Weasley, bending down to kiss his cheek and looking anxiously into his face, "You're looking a bit peaky"

"He is fine, Healers just need to find an antidote for the snake's poison," everyone turned to the source of the voice. Danny was standing in the doorway, casually drinking from his flask. He wasn't wearing his Hogwarts robes, thankfully. Ministry wouldn't shut up if he was.

"Danny!?" They all shouted.

"What...how..." Ron started.

"Healers said that Danny-boy carried me here. It's very nice First aid skills you have here," Arthur said. Danny shrugged.

"No biggie, it isn't the first time," Mrs. Weasley immediately hugged him.

"I don't know how thank you enough, Danny. If something happened...I..."

"That's alright, as I said it wasn't hard"

"Still, it doesn't mean we can't thank you," said Fred, giving him a pat on the shoulder.

"Wait, what were YOU doing in the Ministry?" Ginny asked. Everyone looked at him curiously. Danny smirked.

"Order's business," the kids were shocked by this information. Then jealous, because they can't join. Then Harry and Ron realized that that's because of Danny's power he is there.

"What do you mean, Danny?" Asked Molly. That was more surprising. Even fellow members don't know what he was doing.

"He made one from his SNAKE, Mrs. Weasley. He put the part of his soul inside of LIVING until last night snake"

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked.

"Let's just say, Mr. Baldman can't be killed so easily," Danny said and made another gulp from the flask.

A.N. Harry woke up right after snake was blasted for the first time, if someone is wondering. So he didn't see Danny.


	14. Chapter XIV: Chit Chat

Danny thought about a great solution for his dilemma. Duplication should do the trick. That way he can celebrate Christmas even with two parties. After all, every duplicate is him, not just a part, so no one will be offended.

However Harry was worrying Danny. He barely spoke, came down only to eat. Ron told Phantom that they learned about Mr. Weasley being attacked from him. Because Harry saw it. From the snake's point of view. Maybe that was the reason, depression? Hard to pinpoint what he was feeling and what he thought about, but it was certainly nothing good.

Danny went to Buckbeak's room, where Harry was hiding, along with Hermione. Mrs. Black started to scream, hearing them approach. He just set part of her portrait on fire, just to make her silent. And it worked, he scared her beyond measure, making Danny smile in pleasure of final silence. Hermione started to hammer hard on the door.

"I know you're in there," said Hermione's voice, "Will you please come out? I want to talk to you"

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked her, pulling open the door as Buckbeak resumed his scratching at the straw-strewn floor for any fragments of rat he may have dropped, "I thought you were skiing with your mom and dad?"

"Well, to tell the truth, skiing's not really my thing," said Hermione, "So, I've come here for Christmas", There was snow in her hair and her face was pink with cold, "But don't tell Ron. I told him skiing's really good because he kept laughing so much. Mum and Dad are a bit disappointed, but I've told them that everyone who is serious about the exams is staying at Hogwarts to study. They want me to do well, they'll understand. Anyway," she said briskly, "let's go to your bedroom, Ron's mom has lit a fire in there and she's sent up sandwiches"

"Mm, just imagine, Harry, how delicious they are," Danny said, making Harry's stomach to grumble. He hadn't breakfast today.

Harry followed them back to the second floor. When he entered the bedroom, he was rather surprised to see both Ron and Ginny waiting for them, sitting on Ron's bed.

"I came on the Knight Bus," said Hermione airily, pulling off her jacket before Harry had time to speak, "Dumbledore told me what had happened first thing this morning, but I had to wait for term to end officially before setting off. Umbridge is already livid that you lot disappeared right under her nose, even though Dumbledore told her Mr. Weasley was in St. Mungo's and he'd given you all permission to visit. So ..."

She sat down next to Ginny, and the two girls, Ron and Danny all looked up at Harry.

"How're you feeling?" asked Hermione.

"Fine," said Harry stiffly.

"Oh, don't lie, Harry," she said impatiently, "Ron and Ginny say you've been hiding from everyone since you got back from St. Mungo's"

"They do, do they?" said Harry, glaring at Ron and Ginny. Ron looked down at his feet but Ginny seemed quite unabashed.

"Well, you have!" she said, "And you won't look at any of us!"

"It's you lot who won't look at me!" said Harry angrily.

"Maybe you're taking it in turns to look, and keep missing each other," suggested Danny, grinning.

"Very funny," snapped Harry, turning away.

"Oh, stop feeling all misunderstood," said Hermione sharply, "Look, the others have told me what you overheard last night on the Extendable Ears..."

"Yeah?" growled Harry, his hands deep in his pockets as he watched the snow now falling thickly outside, "All been talking about me, have you? Well, I'm getting used to it"

"We wanted to talk toyou, Harry," said Ginny, "but as you've been hiding ever since we got back..."

"I didn't want anyone to talk to me," said Harry, who was feeling more and more nettled.

"Well, that was a bit stupid of you," said Ginny angrily, "seeing as you don't know anyone but me who's been possessed by You-Know-Who, and I can tell you how it feels"

Harry remained quite still as the impact of these words hit him. Then he wheeled round.

"I forgot," he said.

"Lucky you," said Ginny coolly.

"I'm sorry," Harry said, and he meant it, "So ... so, do you think I'm being possessed, then?"

"Well, can you remember everything you've been doing?" Danny asked, "Are there big blank periods where you don't know what you've been up to?"

"No," Harry said.

"Then Baldie hasn't ever possessed you," said Danny simply, "When you are possessed, you can't remember what I'd been doing for hours at a time. You'd find yourself somewhere and not know how you got there"

-Later-

Sirius's delight at having the house full again, and especially at having Harry back, was infectious. He was no longer their sullen host of the summer; now he seemed determined that everyone should enjoy themselves as much, if not more than they would have done at Hogwarts, and he worked tirelessly in the run-up to Christmas Day, cleaning and decorating with their help, so that by the time they all went to bed on Christmas Eve the house was barely recognisable. The tarnished chandeliers were no longer hung with cobwebs but with garlands of holly and gold and silver streamers; magical snow glittered in heaps over the threadbare carpets; a great Christmas tree, obtained by Mundungus and decorated with live fairies, blocked Sirius's family tree from view, and even the stuffed elf-heads on the hall wall wore Father Christmas hats and beards.

But that wasn't the end of his happiness. Danny prepared one wonderful present for both Sirius and Harry. That's why he was currently walking down the streets of London. He WAS getting weird looks from people around, but that wasn't surprising. He was dressed as noble as he could by wizarding standards. Plus, he changed his look a bit. He opened the telephone-box door, stepped inside and reached for the receiver.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business," female voice sounded.

"Lord Phantom seeks an audience with the Minister," Danny said seriously.

"Th-thank you," the woman stuttered.

When he got down, he was standing at one end of a very long and splendid hall with a highly polished, dark wood floor. The peacock blue ceiling was inlaid with gleaming golden symbols that kept moving and changing like some enormous heavenly noticeboard. The wall's on each side were panelled in shiny dark wood and had many gilded fireplaces set into them. Every few seconds a witch or wizard would emerge from one of the left-hand fireplaces with a soft whoosh; on the right-hand side, short queues were forming before each fireplace, waiting to depart.

"E-excuse me, sir," said shy witch in the reception area. Danny looked at her, "I need to check your wand and ring for c-confirmation"

"I don't have a ring," Phantom handled her another end of his cane, "but if something will happen with my Lord symbol, you will come to regret it," he threatened. She gulped and took it, not noticing how Danny's eye flashed green. Witch then wrote something on the piece of parchment, which became a paper plane and flew somewhere. She handled the cane back.

"Minister will be here shortly, Lord Phantom," she said. Reporters nearby were alredy nearby, scribing something furiously. He sure is going to be the huge news. Funny thing is nobody recognized Work in the new Lord.

"Now there is a problem, good sir," said little man in green clothes said, coming closer with his escort. So that's the Minister, huh? "But we don't know any wizarding family named Phantom," Danny pointed his cane at the man, scaring him for a moment.

"Of course you don't, my ancestors had another last name," he said, "I have the same symbol though. Look at the handle," people did as was told and gasped in fright at the scull drawn on it.

"A-and w-why are you h-here, Lord Da..."

"You better watch your mouth, I don't like to be called like that. Now for the issue I'm here..."

"Issue, sir?" Funny, how everyone called him sir, despite the fact that he is obviously younger than them.

"The fact that you threw an innocent man in Azcaban for twelve years. I'm here to clear the name of one Sirius Black"

-Laaterr-

Harry awoke on Christmas morning to find a stack of presents at the foot of his bed and Ron already halfway through opening his own, rather larger, pile.

"Good haul this year," he informed Harry through a cloud of paper, "Thanks for the Broom Compass, it's excellent; beats Hermione's--she got me a homework planner"

Harry sorted through his presents and found one with Hermione's handwriting on it. She had given him, too, a book that resembled a diary except that every time he opened a page it said aloud things like: "Do it today or later you'll pay!"

Once the residents of Grimmauld Place had eaten their Christmas lunch, the door opened loudly and Danny came inside, grinning widely, but looking excausted.

"Danny, where have you been all this morning?" Mrs. Weasley asked, putting the plate with food in front of his seat.

"In the Ministry," he said. Everyone was surprised.

"What were you doing there?" Sirius asked. The grin on Danny's face became even wider.

"Getting a Christmas present for you and Harry," he said, flopping a newspaper on the table.

"Prophet?!" Ron asked dumbfounded. Phantom facepalmed.

"Seriously, Ron? I meant what is written inside," Harry and Sirius looked on the front page and their eyes widened in shock. Everyone else was waiting with curiosity.

"I...I'm free?" Asked Sirius, rereading the article again and shocking other people.

"Yep," Danny said, continuing to eat, "Dad helped me to find needed papers to prove your innocence," everyone was quiet, but they had smiles on their faces. Phantom chuckled.

"That's not all," he said, putting out the quill and piece of parchment, "If you sign this papers, than Sirius Black will become Harry Potter's legal guardian"

-Laater-

Kreacher, it transpired, had been lurking in the attic. Sirius said he had found him up there, covered in dust, no doubt looking for more relics of the Black family to hide in his cupboard. But he surprised house elf by his cheery attitude towards him nevertheless. Sirius, as well as Harry, were too happy to care about him. Elf was still wary near Danny and was too afraid to make a single insult to half ghost.

"Harry, dear," said Mrs. Weasley poking her head into his and Ron's bedroom, where the pair of them were playing wizard chess watched by Hermione, Ginny and Crookshanks, "could you come down to the kitchen? Professor Snape would like a word with you"

Harry did not immediately register what she had said; one of his castles was engaged in a violent tussle with a pawn of Ron's and he was egging it on enthusiastically.

"Squash him, squash him, he's only a pawn, you idiot. Sorry, Mrs. Weasley, what did you say?"

"Professor Snape, dear. In the kitchen. He'd like a word"

Harry's mouth fell open in horror. He looked around at Ron, Hermione and Ginny, all of whom were gaping back at him. Crookshanks, whom Hermione had been restraining with difficulty for the past quarter of an hour, leapt gleefully on to the board and set the pieces running for cover, squealing at the top of their voices.

"Snape?" said Harry blankly.

"Professor Snape, dear," said Mrs. Weasley reprovingly, "Now come on, quickly, he says he can't stay long"

"What's he want with you?' said Ron, looking unnerved as Mrs. Weasley withdrew from the room, "You haven't done anything, have you?"

"No!" said Harry indignantly, racking his brains to think what he could have done that would make Snape pursue him to Grimmauld Place.

A minute or two later, he pushed open the kitchen door to find Sirius and Snape both seated at the long kitchen table, glaring in opposite directions. The silence between them was heavy with mutual dislike. A letter lay open on the table in front of Sirius.

"Er," said Harry, to announce his presence.

Snape looked around at him, his face framed between curtains of greasy black hair.

"Sit down, Potter"

"You know," said Sirius loudly, leaning back on his rear chair legs and speaking to the ceiling, "I think I'd prefer it if you didn't give orders here, Snape. It's my house, you see"

An ugly flush suffused Snape's pallid face. Harry sat down in a chair beside Sirius, facing Snape across the table.

"I was supposed to see you alone, Potter," said Snape, the familiar sneer curling his mouth, "but Black-..."

"I'm his guardian," said Sirius, louder than ever. Snape blinked.

"What?"

"Danny went to the Ministry and proved my innocence. We also signed needed papers"

"The Headmaster has sent me to tell you, Potter, that it is his wish for you to study Occlumency this term"

"Study what?" said Harry blankly.

Snape's sneer became more pronounced.

"Occlumency, Potter. The magical defence of the mind against external penetration. An obscure branch of magic, but a highly useful one"

Harry's heart began to pump very fast indeed. Defence against external penetration? But he was not being possessed, they had all agreed on that ...

"Why do I have to study Occlu...thing?" he blurted out.

"Because the Headmaster thinks it a good idea," said Snape smoothly, "You will receive private lessons once a week, but you will not tell anybody what you are doing, least of all Dolores Umbridge. You understand?"

"Yes," said Harry, "Who's going to be teaching me?"

"I am," answered Danny, coming from behind. Harry was surprised.

"You?"

"I managed to keep away the Sorting Hat and you are surprised?" He smirked.

-Laater-

The group returned to Hogwarts on the Knight Bus. It was...rocky ride. Danny threw up the second they walked out of the transport. Danny splitted with his friends. People were curious about him. Everyone was curious about Lord Phantom, and nobody even suspected that they were the same person, despite only slight difference in appearance. Danny just said that he and Phantom are related.

"Hey, Danny," Luna greeted, smiling. No one saw her that happy before.

"Hello, Luna," Phantom smiled as well.

"Had a good Christmas?" She asked.

"Yeah, not bad"

"Mine was pretty quiet. Dad really liked Snorkack, he is going to add her photo to the next issue!" Luna said in excited tone.

"Really?"

"Yes, he will even mention you"

"Wow, say thanks from me then," Danny smiled, then added, "Luna, may I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"There's another Hogsmeade trip next month, on Valentine Day..."

"Is this a date?" She asked tilting her head.

"Well...No...I mean yes...I mean if you want to"

"I'd love to"

-Laterrr-

Occlumency lessons should take place in Snape's classroom. Joy. Danny was waiting for Harry to arrive with a some dread. He certainly wouldn't like his method. He walked inside the room, smiling slightly.

"What's up?" Danny asked.

"Oh...I," he blushed.

"It's Cho, isn't it?" He blushed even redder, causing Danny to chuckle, "I see, well, take a seat," Phantom gestured to the chair.

"So, Old Man wants me to teach you"

"And why does Professor Dumbledore think I need it?" said Harry. Danny shrugged.

"Voldemort is highly skilled at Legilimency"

"What's that?"

"It is the ability to extract feelings and memories from another person's mind..."

"He can read minds?" said Harry quickly, his worst fears confirmed.

"Don't worry about it much, that's why we are here, right?"

"So he could know what we're thinking right now?"

"Baldie is at a considerable distance and the walls and grounds of Hogwarts are guarded by many ancient spells and charms to ensure the bodily and mental safety of those who dwell within them," said Danny with mighty voice, "Time and space matter in magic, Harry. Eye contact is often essential to Legilimency. The evidence suggests that at times, when your mind is most relaxed and vulnerable, when you are asleep, for instance, you are sharing the Voldemort's thoughts and emotions. Old Man thinks it inadvisable for this to continue. He wishes me to teach you how to close your mind to the Snakeface"

"But why does Professor Dumbledore want to stop it?" Harry asked, "I don't like it much, but it's been useful, hasn't it? I mean ... I saw that snake attack Mr Weasley and if I hadn't, Professor Dumbledore wouldn't have been able to save him, would he?"

"I dunno, Harry, but...Better be safe than sorry, right?" Harry nodded numbly.

"Alright, that's the thing you wouldn't like, my method"

"What is it?" He asked wary.

"Well...I need to possess you," Danny said after taking a breath.

"WHAT?!" Harry shouted.

"Hear me out! If you will be able to knock me out of your body, then you will have nothing to be afraid of!" Danny said, sighing, "I'm not fond of it as well, I hate to possess anyone, but it needs to be done"

"Alright," Harry said, sighing as well after some time. Danny nodded.

"Your secrets are safe, I don't have a glimpse on memories, except the strong ones. Now, you will feel a presence inside of you. Use all your will to force me out. Ready?"

Harry nodded and immediately felt a presence, right as Danny told. He tried to force him out. But it was hard to stand against King of Ghosts. Harry then saw only darkness, then classroom came into view. He glanced at Danny, who had a shocked look on his face.

"Eh, is everything alright?" Harry asked. Phantom shook his head.

"You did quite well for the first time. You managed to keep me outside for some time, not kicking me out, though. Let's try again"

Danny tried to change the topic. How was he supposed to tell Harry that he is Horcrux?

A.N. Hey, I started another story, check it out.


	15. Chapter XV: A Date

Hermione's Daily Prophet arrived during breakfast and she smoothed it out, gazed for a moment at the front page and gave a yelp that caused everyone in the vicinity to stare at her.

"What?" said Harry and Ron together.

For answer she spread the newspaper on the table in front of them and pointed at ten black-and-white photographs that filled the whole of the front page, nine showing wizards' faces and the tenth, a witch's. Some of the people in the photographs were silently jeering; others were tapping their fingers on the frame of their pictures, looking insolent. Each picture was captioned with a name and the crime for which the person had been sent to Azkaban.

Antonin Dolohov, read the legend beneath a wizard with a long, pale, twisted face who was sneering up at Harry, convicted of the brutal murders of Gideon and Fabian Prewett.

Algernon Rookwood, said the caption beneath a pockmarked man with greasy hair who was leaning against the edge of his picture, looking bored, convicted of leaking Ministry of Magic secrets to He Who Must Not Be Named.

But Harry's eyes were drawn to the picture of the witch. Her face had leapt out at him the moment he had seen the page. She had long, dark hair that looked unkempt and straggly in the picture, though he had seen it sleek, thick and shining. She glared up at him through heavily lidded eyes, an arrogant, disdainful smile playing around her thin mouth.

Bellatrix Lestrange, convicted of the torture and permanent incapacitation of Frank and Alice Longbottom. Hermione nudged Harry and pointed at the headline over the pictures, which Harry, concentrating on Bellatrix, had not yet read.

MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN

OLD DEATH EATERS ESCAPE

Harry, Ron and Hermione read more. Death of Broderick Bode, who worked in Department of Mysteries, and was healing at St.Mungo's. They understood that it was a murder, committed with the help of poisonous plant. They looked at each other for a moment, then Hermione pulled the newspaper back towards her, closed it, glared for a moment at the pictures of the ten escaped Death Eaters on the front, then leapt to her feet.

"Where are you going?" said Ron, startled.

"To send a letter," said Hermione, swinging her bag on to her shoulder, "It ... well, I don't know whether ... but it's worth trying ... and I'm the only one who can"

Suddenly the doors of Great Hall opened wild. It happens a lot last time. There were two people. One was Danny, obviously, who was holding a half finished bottle of Fire Whiskey. Another person was scary. He was a young adult, about twenty years old, but he was the same height as Danny. He had white skin, auburn hair and crimson red eyes, much to everyone's fear. He was wearing black leather jacket, torn jeans and boots. Man was also very thin. He also had a Fire Whiskey, and he and Danny had hands on each other's shoulder. It made them look like drinking buddies, because they were.

"And finally we have a Great Hall!" Danny said, making a gesture and taking a gulp.

"Nice," the man said in deep voice, "But it's still better at home"

"Eh, no offense, pal, but you live in an abandoned shack in a middle of nowhere"

"And you know the reasons," he glared at Danny.

"Pff, you aren't THAT scary," Phantom shrugged, spilling some drink on the floor.

"Easy for you to say! You faced Pariah!"

"Okay, okay. Good point. Still, you could use some company, besides me"

"Fine! Don't complain later, then. I will be on my way!" With that the man dissappeared in a cloud of smoke. Danny shook his head.

"Sometimes I wonder, why we are friends"

"Mr. Work, who was that man?" Dumbledore asked, voicing everyone's thoughts.

"Oh, that was a good ol' buddy of mine, Death"

People around started to faint. Danny just achieved the title of the strangest student in Hogwarts' history. And here he thought he got it earlier.

-Lateer-

The halls of Hogwarts were filled by murmurs and whispers of students, which were about escaped Death Eaters and changing opinion about Harry, since not so much people believed Ministry's explanation. It was not only the students' mood that had changed. It was now quite common to come across two or three teachers conversing in low, urgent whispers in the corridors, breaking off their conversations the moment they saw students approaching. It happened after decree.

BY ORDER OF THE HIGH INQUISITOR OF HOGWARTS

Teachers are hereby banned from giving students any information

that is not strictly related to the subjects they are paid to teach.

The above is in accordance with Educational Decree

Number Twenty-six.

Signed: Dolores Jane Umbridge, High Inquisitor

It had been the subject of a great number of jokes among the students. Danny had pointed out to Umbridge that by the terms of the new rule she was not allowed to tell UGH members for playing Exploding Snap in the back of the class.

"Exploding Snap's got nothing to do with Defence Against the Dark Arts, Jane! That's not information relating to your subject. Oh wait, you aren't even teaching that"

At the next day the Great Hall was filled with Hitler's photos with Dolores' face on them.

But now fourteenth of February has arrived. Danny was putting on a tux in Slytherin dorms. They never saw a muggle attire before, but they somehow heard about his date, so they guessed this costume was for official events. He proceeded alone to the Entrance Hall to meet Luna.

She was waiting for him a little to the side of the oak front doors, looking very pretty with her hair tied back in a long pony-tail.

"Hey," she greeted.

"Hello, milady, shall we depart?" He bowed slightly.

"What is that you are wearing?" Luna asked.

"What," Danny whined playfully, "too official? Well," he snapped his fingers and he was dressed in black T-shirt and pants, "I never liked tux"

"There is cold outside," she said.

"Nah, cold never bothered me, anyway"

Danny was getting a LOT of shocked looks at how casual he was, walking in shirt during -15, no more. Then a large gang of Slytherin girls passed them, led by Pansy Parkinson. The only one who didn't care about Danny's nobility and power. Big mistake.

"Work and Lovegood," screeched Pansy, to a chorus of snide giggles, "Two loonies finally found each other!"

"Says the one, whose last name is a disease," Danny smirked. Not finding any comeback, Parkinson glared at him and stomped away. He and Luna laughed.

"Looks like the Hat was right, you ARE witty," she said, "Where are we going?"

"Hm ... shall we just have a look in the shops or something?"

They wandered towards Dervish and Banges. A large poster had been stuck up in the window and a few Hogsmeaders were looking at it. They moved aside when Danny and Luna approached and Danny found himself staring once more at the pictures of the ten escaped Death Eaters. The poster, 'By Order of the Ministry of Magic', offered a thousand-Galleon reward to any witch or wizard with information leading to the recapture of any of the convicts pictured.

"It's funny," said Luna in a low voice, gazing up at the pictures of the Death Eaters, "When that Sirius Black escaped, there were dementors all over Hogsmeade. Now ten Death Eaters are on the loose and there are no dementors anywhere ..."

"Yep," said Danny, "Do ya think I can get some money for this Death Eaters?" Hogsmeade residents, who never heard about Danny's antics, gaped at him.

"You probably can," Luna answered, shocking people even more, "But how are you going to find them?"

"Well, they are 'Death Eaters'. Just search for the most scary places in England and voilà! They will be in Azcaban in a blink of an eye. Plus Dad may help. Soo...Butterbeer?"

"Butterbeer"

They both didn't want to go to Madam Paddifoot's. Too luscious for their liking. It was a cramped, steamy little place where everything seemed to have been decorated with frills or bows. So the couple went to Three Broomsticks.

The inn was warm, crowded, and a bit smoky, but clean and welcoming. There they sat at the table and ordered Butterbeer. It was brought to them in big tankards.

"It's good place," said Luna, taking a sip.

"Yeah," Danny chuckled, "way better than Hog's Head"

"Have you noticed something about barman there?" She asked.

"I had a feeling that I saw him somewhere..."

"He looked a bit like Professor Dumbledore," Luna said. Danny blinked.

"Hm, so you think that Dumbledore has a brother?" She shook her head.

"I know it," Luna said.

"Well, we better keep it in secret. I don't think that he is incognito here just for fun," she nodded in response.

Suddenly a huge man with beard lifted his mug and rose to his feet.

"What, no one is brave enough to stand against me in drinking contest? I'm ready to bet fifty galleons!" Danny smiled evilly.

"Shall I go?" He asked Luna quietly. She smiled.

"It should be funny," Danny jumped from his seat and came closer to the man.

"Well, I'd like to," everyone stared at him, and the man, who was two times bigger than Danny, roared with laughter.

"YOU?! Pipsqueak, you still have a milk on your lips!"

"Even so, I'm of age already. And I have money as well," he flipped a bag on the table.

"Alright, you asked for it, kid"

-Laater-

When Harry entered the pub, he noticed something unusual. Danny was casually drinking a fifteen tankard of red currant rum, sitting on a chair with his legs on a table. There wasn't a single sign that he was drunk. The same can't be said about his opponent, who was hardly keeping his head from hitting the table. Every visitor was staring a that scene in shock. Finally, after a final gulp, the huge man fell unconscious.

"I won!" Danny shouted, throwing his hands in the air, he then grimaced, "Do you have a toilet here?" People pointed at the door in the far end of the room and Danny ran there. You can't just drink seven liters of liquid without consequences.

"Harry! Harry, over here!"

Hermione was waving at Harry from the other side of the room. He got up and made his way towards her through the crowded pub. He was still a few tables away when he realised that Hermione was not alone. She was sitting at a table with the unlikeliest pair of drinking mates he could ever have imagined: Luna Lovegood and none other than Rita Skeeter, ex-journalist on the Daily Prophet and one of Hermione's least favourite people in the world.

"You're early!" said Hermione, moving along to give him room to sit down. 'I thought you were with Cho, I wasn't expecting you for another hour at least!"

"Cho?" said Rita at once, twisting round in her seat to stare avidly at Harry, "A girl?"

She snatched up her crocodile-skin handbag and groped within it.

"It's none of your business if Harry's been with a hundred girls," Hermione told Rita coolly, "So you can put that away right now"

Rita had been on the point of withdrawing an acid-green quill from her bag. Looking as though she had been forced to swallow Stinksap, she snapped her bag shut again.

"What are you up to?" Harry asked, sitting down and staring from Rita to Luna to Hermione.

"Little Miss Perfect was just about to tell me when you arrived," said Rita, taking a large slurp of her drink, "I suppose I'm allowed to talk to him, am I?" she shot at Hermione.

"Yes, I suppose you are," said Hermione coldly.

Rita took another great gulp of her drink and said out of the corner of her mouth, "Pretty girl, is she, Harry?"

"One more word about Harry's love life and the deal's off and that's a promise," said Hermione irritably.

"What deal?" said Rita, wiping her mouth on the back of her hand, "You haven't mentioned a deal yet, Miss Prissy you just told me to turn up. Oh, one of these days ..." She took a deep shuddering breath.

"Yes, yes, one of these days you'll write more horrible stories about Harry and me," said Hermione indifferently, "Find someone who cares, why don't you?"

"They've run plenty of horrible stories about Harry this year without my help," said Rita, shooting a sideways look at him over the top of her glass and adding in a rough whisper, "How has that made you feel, Harry? Betrayed? Distraught? Misunderstood?"

"Try angry as Walker, when someone breaks the rules," everyone turned to see grinning Danny, "And believe me, it's a sight to behold"

"Who is Walker?" Rita asked. She was very curious about this 'insane student'.

"He is a warden of the main prison back at my home. When you mix muggle and magical security systems, then you get an unbreakable place"

"You talk as though you are familiar with him, why?"

"This idiot once threw me into his prison by the false accusation. I broke out, though, and cleaned my reputation. It happened when I was twelve," she scribed everything down, "Now, if you will make some dirty article about me, I will find you, and you wouldn't be able to write at all," her threat made a strong effect at her, so she turned back to Harry. Danny sat back with Luna, who was quietly singing 'Weasley is our King'.

"So you actually stick to it, do you, that He Who Must Not Be Named is back?" said Rita, lowering her glass and subjecting Harry to a piercing stare while her finger strayed longingly to the clasp of the crocodile bag, "You stand by all this garbage Dumbledore's been telling everybody about You-Know-Who returning and you being the sole witness?"

"I wasn't the sole witness," snarled Harry, "There were a dozen-odd Death Eaters there as well. Want their names?"

"I'd love them," breathed Rita, now fumbling in her bag once more and gazing at him as though he was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen, "A great bold headline: "Potter Accuses ..." A sub-heading, "Harry Potter Names Death Eaters Still Among Us"

"We don't need another story about how Harry's lost his marbles!" said Hermione angrily, "We've had plenty of those already, thank you! I want him given the opportunity to tell the truth!"

"There's no market for a story like that," said Rita coldly.

"You mean the Prophet won't print it because Fudge won't let them," said Hermione irritably.

Rita gave Hermione a long, hard look. Then, leaning forwards across the table towards her, she said in a businesslike tone, "All right, Fudge is leaning on the Prophet, but it comes to the same thing. They won't print a story that shows Harry in a good light. Nobody wants to read it. It's against the public mood. This last Azkaban breakout has got people quite worried enough. People just don't want to believe You-Know-Who's back"

"So the Daily Prophet exists to tell people what they want to hear, does it?" said Hermione scathingly.

Rita sat up straight again, her eyebrows raised, and drained her glass of Firewhisky,

"The Prophet exists to sell itself, you silly girl," she said coldly.

"My dad thinks it's an awful paper," said Luna, chipping into the conversation unexpectedly. Sucking on her cocktail onion, she gazed at Rita with her enormous, protuberant, slightly mad eye, "He publishes important stories he thinks the public needs to know. He doesn't care about making money"

Rita looked disparagingly at Luna.

"I'm guessing your father runs some stupid little village newsletter?" she said, "Probably, Twenty-five Ways to Mingle With Muggles and the dates of the next Bring and Fly Sale?"

"No," said Luna, dipping her onion back into her Gillywater, "he's the editor of The Quibbler"

Rita snorted so loudly that people at a nearby table looked round in alarm.

"Important stories he thinks the public needs to know", eh?" she said witheringly, "I could manure my garden with the contends of that rag"

"Of course you will, Prophet isn't good enough even for that," Danny glared, keeping his eye from flashing green, "Luna says her father's quite happy to take Harry's interview. That's who'll be publishing it"

Rita stared at him for a moment, then let out a great whoop of laughter.

"The Quibbler!" she said, cackling, "You think people will take him seriously if he's published in The Quibbler!"

"Some people won't," said Danny in a level voice, "But the Daily Prophet's version of the Azkaban breakout had some gaping holes in it. I think a lot of people will be wondering whether there isn't a better explanation of what happened, and if there's an alternative story available, even if it is published in an unusual magazine, I think they might be rather keen to read it"

Rita didn't say anything for a while, but eyed Danny shrewdly, her head a little to one side.

"All right, let's say for a moment I'll do it," she said abruptly, "What kind of fee am I going to get?"

"I don't think Daddy exactly pays people to write for the magazine," said Luna dreamily, "They do it because it's an honour and, of course, to see their names in print"

Rita Skeeter looked as though the taste of Stinksap was strong in her mouth again as she rounded on Hermione.

"I'm supposed to do this for free?"

"Well, yes," said Danny calmly, making her to turn back on him, taking a sip of his drink, "Otherwise, as you very well know, me and Hermione will inform the authorities that you are an unregistered Animagus. Of course, the Prophet might give you rather a lot for an insider's account of life in Azkaban"

"How did you..."

"Lady, I'm Lord and a king of the whole country, I have connections"

"I don't suppose I've got any choice, have I?" said Rita, her voice shaking slightly. She opened her crocodile bag once more, withdrew a piece of parchment, and raised her Quick-Quotes Quill.

"Daddy will be pleased," said Luna brightly. A muscle twitched in Rita's jaw.

"OK, Harry?" said Hermione, turning to him, "Ready to tell the public the truth?"

"I suppose,"said Harry, watching Rita balancing the Quick-Quotes Quill at the ready on the parchment between them.

"Fire away, then, Rita," said Hermione serenely, fishing a cherry out from the bottom of her glass.

-Laaterr-

"Don't worry, Luna, it's safe," Danny said, leading his girlfriend deeper inside Forbidden Forest. It was already dark, but it didn't bother him.

"Where are we going, anyway?" She asked, not worried in the slightest.

"You will see," he grinned.

They approached the huge cave.

"Hey, buddy, I'm here with a guest!" He called.

The loud noise filled the air and the dragon, familiar one, came out. She already healed for the most part, Danny took care of it, the scales grew back, sadly, she was still blind. Luna stared in awe at the creature, while dragon moved her head closer. Phantom chuckled.

"She wants you to pet her," he made a 'go on' gesture.

Luna slowly stretched her hand and stroked the dragon under chin, making her growl softly.

"That's amazing!" Luna said, "what is she doing here? Her specie doesn't live here"

"I befreed her from Gringgots, when I was there"

"You were the one to rob it?" She asked.

"Yep, I stole the cup of Hufflepuff. The same thing as with diadem"

After some time, about midnight, the two finally returned inside the castle. Danny was following Luna to her house homeroom.

"Well, that was awesome, too bad it's over," Phantom smiled. She planted a kiss on his cheek.

"I agree, good night"

"And don't let the bed bugs bite," he grinned.

A.N. Who can find an Easter Egg?


	16. Chapter XVI: Another Work

A.N. Congratulations, user Jabberdom, for guessing right.

You would think that Danny was ditching his duties, being away during Quidditch match. But having duplicates helps not only in the lazy moments. It also disperse any suspicions. So, he decided to catch some Death Eaters out of boredom. Along with Fright Knight, just for fun. Clockwork told Danny, that Antonin Dolohov was currently in Leaking Cauldron undercover. Risky mission, especially with King of Ghosts on your tail.

Phantom and his servant were invisible, with the first one being without disguise. Death Mark was easy to spot. Dolohov was currently having breakfast in the end of the room. Suddenly, the seat was removed from under him, causing Antonin to fall on the floor. Childish laugh filled the air. He started to look around furiously.

"Oh, so sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going!" The laughter started again.

"Show yourself, brat! I want to see the person I'm about to kill!" Dolohov shouted.

"Can't kill someone who is already dead!" Was the response.

"Then leave me alone, ghost," he spat, but immediately something cold collided with his gut and he was thrown on the nearest table, plates and mugs flying everywhere. Dolohov jumped on his feet, "Show yourself, coward!" He roared.

"Your wish is my command," immediately a person appeared in the air, scaring most of the customers.

Phantom was wearing black clothing with white belt and cape. On his flaming hair was an unmistakable burning crown. However it wasn't his attire which scared them. Pointy ears, fangs and arrowed tail immediately told everyone, what this person was. Even Dolohov started shaking a bit, but he still shot a spell at Danny. He just waved a hand and it bounced.

"You wizards never learn," with that Phantom lifted Death Eater in the air and threw him into the wall.

"Who in the Bloody Hell are you?!" Antonin shouted.

"Funny that you said that. I'm known by many names. Pariah's Bane, Dark Prince, Undead King..." Phantom waved his hand nonchalantly. People stared at him, terrified, even Death Eater.

"Okey-dokey," Danny hopped on a chair, "I'm bored. Fright Knight, finish him"

Immediately The Spirit of Halloween appeared, his sword shining in green light. He slashed Dolohov with Soul Shredder, sending him to face his worst fears. Phantom facepalmed.

"I meant knock him out!"

-Laterr-

Griffindor Trio entered the Great Hall for breakfast at exactly the same moment as the post owls on Monday morning. Hermione was not the only person eagerly awaiting her Daily Prophet: nearly everyone was eager for more news about the escaped Death Eaters. They talked about yesterday event. About demon, who caught Dolohov.

Hermione gave the delivery owl a Knut and unfolded the newspaper eagerly while Harry helped himself to orange juice; as he had only received one note during the entire year, he was sure, when the first owl landed with a thud in front of him, that it had made a mistake.

"Who're you after?" he asked it, languidly removing his orange juice from underneath its beak and leaning forwards to see the recipient's name and address:

Harry Potter

Great Hall

Hogwarts School

Frowning, he made to take the letter from the owl, but before he could do so, three, four, five more owls had fluttered down beside it and were jockeying for position, treading in the butter and knocking over the salt as each one attempted to give him their letter first.

"What's going on?" Ron asked in amazement, as the whole of Gryffindor table leaned forwards to watch and another seven owls landed amongst the first ones, screeching, hooting and flapping their wings.

"Harry!" said Hermione breathlessly, plunging her hands into the feathery mass and pulling out a screech owl bearing a long, cylindrical package, "I think I know what this means, open this one first!"

Harry ripped off the brown packaging. Out rolled a tightly furled copy of the March edition of The Quibbler.He unrolled it to see his own face grinning sheepishly at him from the front cover. In large red letters across this picture were the words:

HARRY POTTER SPEAKS OUT AT LAST:

THE TRUTH ABOUT HE WHO MUST NOT BE NAMED

AND THE NIGHT I SAW HIM RETURN

"It's good, isn't it?" said Luna, who had drifted over to the Gryffindor table and now squeezed herself on to the bench between Fred and Ron, "It came out yesterday, I asked Dad to send you a free copy. I expect all these," she waved a hand at the assembled owls still scrabbling around on the table in front of Harry, "are letters from readers"

"Well, there is plenty," Danny said, appearing from nowhere, hands behind his back, "There might be a problem, though"

"What is it?" Harry asked.

"Toad"

"What is going on here?" said a falsely sweet, girlish voice.

Professor Umbridge was standing behind Fred and Luna, her bulging toad's eyes scanning the mess of owls and letters on the table in front of Harry. Behind her he saw many of the students watching them avidly.

"Why have you got all these letters, Mr. Potter?" she asked slowly.

"Is that a crime now?" said Danny loudly, "Getting mail? Then you are breaking a law everyday"

"Well, Mr Potter?" Dolores growled, it was best to ignore him.

"People have written to me because I gave an interview," said Harry, "About what happened to me last June"

"An interview?" repeated Umbridge, her voice thinner and higher than ever, "What do you mean?"

"I mean a reporter asked me questions and I answered them," said Harry, "Here"

And he threw the copy of The Quibbler to her. She caught it and stared down at the cover. Her pale, doughy face turned an ugly, patchy violet.

"When did you do this?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly.

"That's none of your business, Jane," Danny said in singsong voice, "Since this information is not related to your subject"

"Even so, I'm still High Inquisitor, Work. Fifty points from Griffindor and week of detentions, Mr. Potter," with that she walked away.

"You better watch your mouth, Harry," Danny said quietly, "If she will get a word that you did it during Hogsmeade trip, then she will ban you from that as well"

By mid-morning enormous signs had been put up all over the school, not just on house noticeboards, but in the corridors and classrooms too.

BY ORDER OF THE HIGH INQUISITOR OF HOGWARTS

Any student found in possession of the magazine

The Quibblerwill be expelled.

The above is in accordance with Educational Decree Number Twenty-seven.

Signed: Dolores Jane Umbridge, High Inquisitor

By some reason Danny started to laugh at the sight of one of this signs.

"What are you so happy about?" Luna asked him.

"Oh, Luna, don't you see?" Danny breathed, "The Forbidden fruit is sweet. Soon every single person will talk about it"

And it seemed that Danny was quite right. By the end of the day, though they had not seen so much as a corner of The Quibbler anywhere in the school, the whole place seemed to be quoting the interview to each other.

Harry was a hero in the Gryffindor common room that night. Daringly, Fred, George and Danny had put an Enlargement Charm on the front cover of The Quibbler and hung it on the wall, so that Harry's giant head gazed down upon the proceedings, occasionally saying things like 'THE MINISTRY ARE MORONS' and 'EAT FLIES, UMBRIDGE' in a booming voice.

-Laateer-

"Harry, Harry, get up!"

A couple of weeks after his dream of Rookwood, Harry was to be found, yet again, kneeling on the floor of Snape's classroom, trying to clear his head. He had just been forced, yet again, to relive a stream of very early memories he had not even realised he still had, most of them concerning humiliations Dudley and his gang had inflicted upon him in primary school.

"Are you alright?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Harry.

"That last memory," said Danny, "What was it?"

"I don't know," said Harry, getting wearily to his feet. He was finding it increasingly difficult to disentangle separate memories from the rush of images and sound that Danny kept calling forth, "You mean the one where my cousin tried to make me stand in the toilet?"

"No," said Phantom softly, raising an eyebrow, "I mean the one with a man kneeling in the middle of a darkened room ..."

"It's ... nothing," said Harry.

"How do that man and that room come to be inside your head?"

"It...it was...just a dream I had"

"A dream?" repeated Danny, "What was there?"

Harry was surprised that he was interested, but told the story nevertheless.

"So...Department of Mysteries?" Danny asked.

"Voldemort must be searching for something there," Harry nodded, "Why do you ask?"

"I share your point of view, Harry. We need this dreams. But protection is still a good thing to have. For how long do you have this 'connection' with Voldemort?"

"As long as I remember. The scar hurts more since he returned. Why?" Danny looked at him with thoughtful look on his face.

"Of course," he muttered, "he used Avada Kedavra against you. There is no need to sugarcoat this. There is a stinking piece of Voldemort's soul inside your skull," he said loudly. They were silent for some time. Then...

"WHAT?!" Harry shouted.

"I suppose it happened when he tried to kill you fourteen years ago..."

"Can you remove it?!" Harry started to panic.

"That is where dilemma is. I can. But for that I need all my power, which can seriously hurt, if not kill you. I'm trying to find a solution. I will ask you to keep it a secret from now on. Even from your friends and other Order members, can you do it?"

Harry nodded slowly. Then they heard someone's screaming.

-Laater-

The screams were indeed coming from the Entrance Hall; they grew louder as they ran towards the stone steps leading up from the dungeons. When he reached the top he found the Entrance Hall packed; They pushed forwards through a knot of tall Slytherins and saw that the onlookers had formed a great ring, some of them looking shocked, others even frightened.

Professor Trelawney was standing in the middle of the Entrance Hall with her wand in one hand and an empty sherry bottle in the other, looking utterly mad. Her hair was sticking up on end, her glasses were lopsided so that one eye was magnified more than the other; her innumerable shawls and scarves were trailing haphazardly from her shoulders, giving the impression that she was falling apart at the seams. Two large trunks lay on the floor beside her, one of them upside-down; it looked very much as though it had been thrown down the stairs after her.

"No!" she shrieked, "NO! This cannot be happening ... it cannot ... I retuse to accept it!"

"You didn't realise this was coming?" said a high girlish voice, sounding callously amused, and Harry, moving slightly to his right, saw that Trelawney's terrifying vision was nothing other than Professor Umbridge, "Incapable though you are of predicting even tomorrows weather, you must surely have realised that your pitiful performance during my inspections, and lack of any improvement, would make it inevitable that you would be sacked?"

"You c-can't!" howled Professor Trelawney, tears streaming down her face from behind her enormous lenses, "you c-can't sack me! I've b-been here sixteen years! H-Hogwarts is m-my h-home!'

"It was your home," said Professor Umbridge, and Harry was revolted to see the enjoyment stretching her toadlike face as she watched Professor Trelawney sink, sobbing uncontrollably, on to one of her trunks, "until an hour ago, when the Minister for Magic countersigned your Order of Dismissal. Now kindly remove yourself from this Hall. You are embarrassing us," Danny already planned ten very embarrassing pranks.

"There, there, Sybill ... calm down," said Professor McGonagall, "blow your nose on this ... it's not as bad as you think, now ... you are not going to have to leave Hogwarts ..."

"Oh really, Professor McGonagall?" said Umbridge in a deadly voice, taking a few steps forward, "And your authority for that statement is ... ?"

"That would be mine," said a deep voice.

The oaken front doors had swung open. Students beside them scuttled out of the way as Dumbledore appeared in the entrance.

"Yours, Professor Dumbledore?" said Umbridge, with a singularly unpleasant little laugh, "I'm afraid you do not understand the position. I have here," she pulled a parchment scroll from within her robes, "an Order of Dismissal signed by myself and the Minister for Magic. Under the terms of Educational Decree Number Twenty-three, the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts has the power to inspect, place upon probation and sack any teacher she, that is to say - I, feel is not performing to the standards required by the Ministry of Magic. I have decided that Professor Trelawney is not up to scratch. I have dismissed her"

Dumbledore continued to smile. He looked down at Professor Trelawney, who was still sobbing and choking on her trunk, and said, "You are quite right, of course, Professor Umbridge. As High Inquisitor you have every right to dismiss my teachers. You do not, however, have the authority to send them away from the castle. I am afraid," he went on, with a courteous little bow, "that the power to do that still resides with the Headmaster, and it is my wish that Professor Trelawney continue to live at Hogwarts"

At this, Professor Trelawney gave a wild little laugh in which a hiccough was barely hidden.

"No-no, I'll g-go, Dumbledore! I sh-shall...leave Hogwarts and s-seek my fortune elsewhere..."

"No," said Dumbledore sharply, "It is my wish that you remain, Sybill"

He turned to Professor McGonagall.

"Might I ask you to escort Sybill back upstairs, Professor McGonagall?"

"Of course," said McGonagall. "Up you get, Sybill ..."

Professor Sprout came hurrying forwards out of the crowd and grabbed Professor Trelawney's other arm. Together, they guided her past Umbridge and up the marble stairs. Professor Flitwick went scurrying after them, his wand held out before him; he squeaked "Locomotor trunks!" and Professor Trelawney's luggage rose into the air and proceeded up the staircase after her, Professor Flitwick bringing up the rear.

Professor Umbridge was standing stock still, staring at Dumbledore, who continued to smile benignly.

"And what," she said, in a whisper that carried all around the Eintrance Hall, "are you going to do with her once I appoint a new Divination teacher who needs her lodgings?"

"Oh, that won't be a problem," said Dumbledore pleasantly, "You see, I have already found us a new Divination teacher"

"You've found..." said Umbridge shrilly, "You've found? Might I remind you, Dumbledore, that under Educational Decree Number Twenty-two..."

"The Ministry has the right to appoint a suitable candidate if, and only if, the Headmaster is unable to find one," said Dumbledore, "And I am happy to say that on this occasion I have succeeded. May I introduce you?"

He turned to face the open front doors, through which night mist was now drifting. Through the mist came a man, dressed in purple cloak, with a strange staff in his hand. He took off the hood, revealing a man with brown-reddish eyes and scar, going through his left eye.

"Dad?" asked Danny happily, shocking students and making Umbridge faint.


	17. Chapter XVII: Escape

"Why didn't you tell me that you are going to be a teacher?" Danny asked. Clockwork smiled.

"Last time we spoke the day before yesterday. Albus offered me, well, I offered my services, this morning," Phantom chuckled.

"And of all jobs you picked to be a Divination teacher"

"Indeed, now excuse me, I need to prepare the teaching program"

"You prepared it long before," Danny deadpanned, his father laughed.

"You know me too well"

-Lateer-

"I'll bet you wish you hadn't given up Divination now, don't you, Hermione?" asked Parvati, smirking.

It was breakfast time, two days after the sacking of Professor Trelawney, and Parvati was curling her eyelashes around her wand and examining the effect in the back of her spoon. They were to have their first lesson with Professor Work that morning.

"Not really," said Hermione indifferently, who was reading the Daily Prophet, "I'm curious about Professor, though"

"Well, you should, he seems pretty mysterious. Funny, Danny isn't like him at all"

"Anyway, I thought you two were all upset that Trelawney had gone?"

"We are!" Lavender assured her, "We went up to her office to see her; we took her some daffodils, not the honking ones that Sprout's got, nice ones"

"How is she?" asked Harry.

"Not very good, poor thing," said Lavender sympathetically, "She was crying and saying she'd rather leave the castle for ever than stay here where Umbridge is, and I don't blame her, Umbridge was horrible to her, wasn't she?"

"I've got a feeling Umbridge has only just started being horrible," said Hermione darkly.

"Impossible," said Ron, who was tucking into a large plate of eggs and bacon, "She can't get any worse than she's been already"

"You mark my words, she's going to want revenge on Dumbledore for appointing a new teacher without consulting her," said Hermione, closing the newspaper, "Especially someone related to Danny"

After breakfast Hermione departed for her Arithmancy class as Harry and Ron followed Parvati and Lavender into North Tower, heading for Divination. The classroom hasn't changed a bit, 'Charles' was sitting in an armchair, drinking coffee. He looked very calm and peaceful, but somehow still intimidated. When the door was closed and the last student had sat down, Clockwork gestured around the room.

"Most of you are wondering why I haven't made any changes in this classroom," he received a few nods, "That's simple, I'm not going to stay here for long. I didn't see the need. Now, any questions before we start?" Danny rolled his eyes, he knew what's going to happen.

"Ms. Patil?" Clockwork said. Everyone, besides Phantom, was stunned at the fact that he knows her last name.

"Eh, yes...I wanted to ask you, I don't want to offend..."

"Don't worry. To answer your question, Dumbledore is an old friend of mine. Plus my family has a very good Seer abilities," her eyes widened in shock, "Ms. Granger," he said.

"How good exactly?"

"I just answered the question before it was asked. And Umbridge will enter in three...two...one"

The second he said that, Dolores entered the classroom, wearing her eyes melting pink clothes

"You received the note I sent to your cabinet this morning?" said Umbridge, "Telling you that I would be inspecting your lesson?"

"Yes," was Clockwork's short response.

"Now," said Umbridge, looking up at him, "do you have any teaching experience?"

"I taught Daniel everything he knows," Clockwork gestured to his son.

"I see," said Professor Umbridge, obviously not satisfied, "Are you aware about your son's doings?"

"Indeed, and I don't see anything bad in it," he smirked slightly.

"And why so sudden appearance?" She asked, after quick glare.

"Just old friend asked for a favor"

"There is one interesting thing. You are currently the oldest member of your house, and yet, you gave Lord title to your irresponsible son," Umbridge gestured to Danny, who was gaping at her. His father beated him to response.

"As long as I remember, Daniel is the most successful student in his house. And I remember it's not why you are here?"

"Of course," she said sweetly, making yet another note, "Well, if you could just predict something for me?" And she looked up enquiringly, still smiling. People looked at Professor. Umbridge asked the same question as to Trelawney.

"Hm, do you want a happy lie or sad true?" Dolores blinked.

"I'd prefer 'sad true'," she said, rolling her eyes.

"You will get fired by the end of the year," she just made sarcastical 'Hm' and wrote something else, "Now if you don't mind I'd like to continue my lesson. Oh, and don't walk near Gargoyle corridor"

-Lateer-

Meanwhile, as the teachers and Hermione persisted in reminding them, the OWLs were drawing ever nearer. All the fifth-years were suffering from stress to some degree, but Hannah Abbott became the first to receive a Calming Draught from Madam Pomfrey after she burst into tears during Herbology and sobbed that she was too stupid to take exams and wanted to leave school now. Except Danny, who just didn't care in the slightest.

DA members had finally started work on Patronuses, which everybody had been very keen to practise, though, as Harry kept reminding them, producing a Patronus in the middle of a brightly lit classroom when they were not under threat was very different from producing it when confronted by something like a Dementor.

"Oh, don't be such a killjoy," said Cho brightly, watching her silvery swan-shaped Patronus soar around the Room of Requirement during their last lesson before Easter, "They're so pretty!"

"They're not supposed to be pretty, they're supposed to protect you," said Harry patiently, "What we really need is a boggart or something; that's how I learned, I had to conjure a Patronus while the boggart was pretending to be a Dementor..."

"But that would be really scary!" said Lavender, who was shooting puffs of silver vapour out of the end of her wand, "And I still...can't...do it!" she added angrily.

Hermione's Patronus, a shining silver otter, was gambolling around her.

"They are sort of nice, aren't they?" she said, looking at it fondly.

Somewhere in the room Luna conjured a hare Patronus.

"Danny, I did it!" She said, excited. Her boyfriend clapped.

"Nice hare," he said with a smile, "alright, then. Expecto Patronum!" Danny waved with his cane. Green blast erupted from the end and flew into wooden dummy. Everybody looked at him.

"Eh, do you think it will work against Dementors?"

The door of the Room of Requirement opened, and closed. Harry looked round to see who had entered, but there did not seem to be anybody there. It was a few moments before he realised that the people close to the door had fallen silent. Next thing he knew, something was tugging at his robes somewhere near the knee. He looked down and saw, to his very great astonishment, Dobby the house-elf peering up at him from beneath his usual eight woolly hats.

"Hi, Dobby!" he said, "What are you...What's wrong?"

The elf's eyes were wide with terror and he was shaking. The members of the DA closest to Harry had fallen silent; everybody in the room was watching Dobby. The few Patronuses people had managed to conjure faded away into silver mist, leaving the room looking much darker than before.

"Harry Potter, sir ..." squeaked the elf, trembling from head to foot, "Harry Potter, sir ... Dobby has come to warn you ... but the house-elves have been warned not to tell ..."

"What's happened, Dobby?" Harry asked, grabbing the elf's tiny arm and holding him away from anything with which he might seek to hurt himself.

"Harry Potter ... she ... she ..."

Dobby hit himself hard on the nose with his free fist. Harry seized that, too.

"Who's "she", Dobby?"

"I think it's darn obvious," said Darry.

Dobby, tried to bang his head on Harry's knees. Harry held him at arm's length.

"What about Umbridge? Dobby, she hasn't found out about this...about us...about the DA?"

He read the answer in the elf's stricken face. His hands held fast by Harry, the elf tried to kick himself and fell to the floor.

"Is she coming?" Harry asked quietly.

Dobby let out a howl, and began beating his bare feet hard on the floor.

"Yes, Harry Potter, yes!"

Harry straightened up and looked around at the motionless, terrified people gazing at the thrashing elf.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?" Harry bellowed, "RUN!"

Danny grabbed Luna's hand.

"Hold tight and hold breath!" He said and they evaporated in black smoke.

They appeared in the Entrance Hall, Luna was gasping for air.

"Sorry," Danny said, "first time is always like that"

"How did you do that?" She asked, "You can't Apparate in Hogwarts"

"Because it was one of Ghost Powers, not an Apparation. Alright, we are currently in the other end of the castle, they wouldn't search for us here"

"Indeed," said Clockwork, coming from behind, "But pack your belongings, there is a possibility..."

"What?! You want to say..."

"Yes, Daniel, you are, but me and Albus made a plan in case it happens. I'll wait behind that corner," he walked away. Danny and Luna looked at each other and hugged.

"So, it's goodbye, then," Danny said with a sad smile.

"You will be back, right?" Luna asked.

"I promise, and you know that I never break my promises"

With this words being said, they shared a deep kiss.

-Later-

Part of the escape plan was to fetch Dumbledore, so Danny flew invisibly into Headmaster's office.

It was full of people. Albus was sitting behind his desk, his expression serene, the tips of his long fingers together. Professor McGonagall stood rigidly beside him, her face extremely tense. Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic, was rocking backwards and forwards on his toes beside the fire, apparently immensely pleased with the situation; Kingsley Shacklebolt and a tough-looking wizard with very short wiry hair whom Danny did not recognise, were positioned either side of the door like guards, and the freckled, bespectacled form of Percy Weasley hovered excitedly beside the wall, a quill and a heavy scroll of parchment in his hands, apparently poised to take notes. Harry stood near Umbridge, looks like he wasn't able to escape. There was also some girl. You could touch the tension in the air.

"...Well," Dumbledore said, "it's just that you seem to be labouring under the delusion that I am going to...what is the phrase?...come quietly. I am afraid I am not going to come quietly at all, Cornelius. I have absolutely no intention of being sent to Azkaban. I could break out, of course, but what a waste of time, and frankly, I can think of a whole host of things I would rather be doing"

Umbridge's face was growing steadily redder; she looked as though she was being filled with boiling water. Fudge stared at Dumbledore with a very silly expression on his face, as though he had just been stunned by a sudden blow and could not quite believe it had happened. He made a small choking noise, then looked round at Kingsley and the man with short grey hair, who alone of everyone in the room had remained entirely silent so far. The latter gave Fudge a reassuring nod and moved forwards a little, away from the wall. Harry saw his hand drift, almost casually, towards his pocket.

"Don't be silly, Dawlish," said Dumbledore kindly, "I'm sure you are an excellent Auror...I seem to remember that you achieved "Outstanding" in all your NEWTs, but if you attempt to...er...bring me in by force, I will have to hurt you"

The man called Dawlish blinked rather foolishly. He looked towards Fudge again, but this time seemed to be hoping for a clue as to what to do next.

"So," sneered Fudge, recovering himself, "you intend to take on Dawlish, Shacklebolt, Dolores and myself single-handed, do you, Dumbledore?"

"Merlin's beard, no," said Dumbledore, smiling, "not unless you are foolish enough to force me to"

"He will not be single-handed!" said Professor McGonagall loudly, plunging her hand inside her robes.

"Oh yes he will, Minerva!" said Dumbledore sharply, "Hogwarts needs you! Plus, who said there will be a fight?"

Danny took it as a cue to appear near him, bowing mockingly. Everyone yelped in surprise, when he materialized from thin air.

"Shall we depart, Headmaster?" He asked with a smirk.

"Yes, I believe it's time"

Danny put a hand on Dumbledore's shoulder. Aurors shot with spells, but they hit only thin air.


	18. Chapter XVIII: Fairy Tale from Death

"And they dare to speak about carma?!" Danny shouted. In the middle of the next Order meeting, "I proved Sirius' innocence and now I'm the one who is wanted!"

Ever since escape Danny lived in Grimmauld Place for quite a period, completely bored out of his mind. Why Clockwork said that he should stay here is still a question. But Phantom learned long ago that whatever his father does, he does it for the good of everyone. At least he doesn't need to hide the tail anymore.

"We know, that that isn't the most entertaining place, Danny," Dumbledore said, "But we need to be patient," Danny sighed.

"Yeah, yeah. So, how is everything going?"

"We wanted to ask you how capable of a fight your subjects are," Moody asked.

"First of all, they aren't 'my subjects'. But to answer your question, even weakest of us are immune to all the spells, and can shoot blasts from our hands. Not mentioning basics. There are some with unique abilities"

"Such as?" Sirius asked.

"I, for example, can obliterate the entire city block with single scream," everyone stared at him, "you DON'T want to hear it. Can we please change the topic?"

"Well, I can"

Everyone turned to the entrance and saw Death, of all people, standing in the doorway. Order members, who didn't know about him, took their wands out, but Danny lifted his hand and stopped them from shooting.

"You sure have a thing for appearances, buddy," Danny said. The man shrugged.

"I do. Let's get straight to the point, I have a lot of job to do. I know where the last Horcrux is," Danny smiled.

"I know you damn well, Death..."

"DEATH?!" everyone shouted, shocked. This certainly wasn't how they expected Death to look. He grinned.

"Sup. Alright, kiddo, you got me," Death summoned a chair for himself, along with glasses and fake beard, "Firstly, old man Death gonna tell you a fairy tale, which actually is damn real"

"Fairy tail?" Danny asked, confused. Other wizards, however, already suspected, what he is going to tell.

"Yeah, The Story of the Three Brothers it's called, which is really stupid name, if you ask me. I'm the main hero, well, antihero, there, after all," Death coughed and started the story.

"Three brothers, travelling along a lonely, winding road at twilight reached a deep treacherous river where anyone who attempted to swim or wade would drown. Hehe, nice idea was that one, I'm still proud of it.

I stopped them in the middle of the bridge they built, angry as hell. This guys were the first ones to cheat with me, long before you, kiddo. Back to the story, I smartly pretended to congratulate them and proceeded to award them with gifts of their own choosing.

The eldest brother, a hotheaded bloke, asked for a wand more powerful than any in existence. I granted his wish by fashioning the Elder Wand from a stick, lying on the banks of the river. Yep, I put some power in simple stick and even that was the strongest wand for the moment.

The second brother, stupid bastard he is, chose to further humiliate me, ME, and asked for the power to recall the deceased from the grave. I granted his wish by crafting the Resurrection Stone from a stone lying nearby.

The third and youngest brother, who was the most humble and wise, as it happens in every damn story, did not trust me and asked for something to enable him to go forth without me being able to follow. I, most unwillingly, handed over the piece of my Invisibility Cloak. THAT'S why I'm wearing a jacket now. NOW there wouldn't be any smartasses like him.

Okay, so three party poopers took their 'prizes' and soon went on their separate ways.

The eldest brother travelled to a village where a wizard whom he had quarrelled lived. He sought out a duel and fought the wizard using the wand, instantly killing the latter.

Leaving his enemy dead upon the floor, the eldest brother walked to an inn not far from the duelling site and spent the night there. Taken by his conscience and lust of the Elder Wand's power, the eldest brother boasted of this wand gifted by me and his own invincibility, arrogant fool.

That very night, I became a 'murderous wizard'. 'The unknown murderous wizard' crept to the inn as the eldest brother slept, drunk from wine. 'The wizard' slit the oldest brother's throat pretty deep and stole the wand, throwing on the street this Edem Apple. That was when I took the first brother.

The second brother returned to his home where he lived alone. Turning the stone thrice in his hand the figure of the girl he had once hoped to marry, before her untimely death, appeared at once before him, much to his delight. Yet she was sad and cold, separated from him as by a veil. Though she had returned to the mortal world, she did not truly belong there and suffered. Finally the second brother, driven mad with hopeless longing, committed suicide by hanging from his house' balcony so as truly to join her. Angsty potato, he is. That was when I took the second brother for his own.

I searched for the youngest brother as years passed but never succeeded. It was only when the third brother reached a great age, he took off the Cloak of Invisibility and gave it to his son. Greeting me as an old friend, we departed this life as equals. Or so he thought. I still hate him"

Everyone listened to this...unusual version of known tale. Danny was the one to brake the silence.

"Ehm, thanks for enlightening story, but what connection does it have with Horcrux?"

"Okay, boy-o, Elder Wand is currently in possession of this old gentlemen," he gestured to Dumbledore, making everyone to look at him in shock.

"Nevermind what I said, it doesn't have anything to do with our situation. For now. The Boy Who Lived has this accursed cloak. The MOST interesting part is the stone. It's currently kept inside Marvolo Gaunt's Ring. Who is that? He was an ignorant old git who lived like a pig, all he cared about was his ancestry. He ignored this story, despite the fact that he had ONE OF THE GIFTS ON HIS FINGER!" Death shouted and started to laugh. Order members were pale after everything.

"There is one interesting thing, this guy was Voldie's grandpa," put reaction here, "Aaand, try to guess where Horcrux is"

"And where should we search for the ring?"

"Abandoned shack in Little Hangleton. There is a problem, though"

"What is this problem?" Dumbledore asked.

"Voldemort currently lives in a mere mile from it"

-Laater-

Well, this place was very gloomy. Especially in darkness of night. Danny was walking along muggle inhabitants, trying to blend in. He will hit himself on a forehead for not just becoming invisible and flying there later. His eyes always fell on a building, standing on a hill. Riddle's house, where Voldemort resided. Phantom walked out of the most inhabited area.

It was a few seconds before Danny's eyes discerned the building half-hidden amongst the tangle of trunks. It seemed to him a very strange location to choose for a house, or else an odd decision to leave the trees growing nearby, blocking all light and the view of the valley below. He wondered whether it was inhabited; its walls were mossy and so many tiles had fallen off the roof that the rafters were visible in places. Nettles grew all around it, their tips reaching the windows, which were tiny and thick with grime.

Danny stepped closer to the door with snake shaped handle. It was locked, so Phantom tried to use intangibility, but to no avail. Apparently, all the spells put together, affected him. Danny started to think. It must be something what only Voldemort can use. He snapped his fingers and smirked. Little did that guy knew, that ghosts can speak every language, Parseltongue included. So, Danny just said 'open', and the door unlocked.

Stepping inside, he breathed a lot of dust inside and coughed. The house looked the same on the inside. Danny started searching for Horcrux. It didn't take him long. Phantom stomped with his leg, breaking the wooden floor. Under it was a small golden chest, which Danny picked and put on the table nearby. He casted a quick 'Alohomora', which didn't work. Stupid Warding Spells. Without any other ideas Danny phased his hand inside. Oh, so now it works. He was holding black box, the one you usually are keeping rings in, which he opened.

Inside was a golden ring, which was made very unaccurate. On the black stone was engraved triangle symbol with a circle inside and the line coming through it.

"I wouldn't touch that if I was you, child," Danny turned around and saw Lord Voldemort standing behind him. How come he didn't hear this guy? To Dark Lord's surprise, Phantom didn't look scared of him in the slightest.

"Wow, you are ugly," he grinned. Voldemort threw him a glare.

"How dare you?!" He took out his wand, "CRUCIO!"

Danny pressed the button on his pocket clock the moment Voldemort said this words. Phantom calmly got up, came right to him and took his wand. Then Danny returned on his seat again and pressed the button. When his followers entered the room, they were shocked at the sight of the teen, lazily twirling Voldemort's wand.

"Tut, tut, Mr. Riddle, one step and I will break this wand like your snake's head," Voldemort only saw red.

"That was YOU?!" Now Danny was confused.

"Wait, so you didn't see anything? That's pity, what a sound it made when collided with the wall," he smirked evilly, sending shivers down Death Eaters' spines. Voldemort moved his hand and table flew into Danny, but then stucked in the air.

"You aren't the only one here with such an ability, Riddle," he said and put the table back, "you need to control your temper...Thomas," Phantom knew that Dark Lord hates his name.

"How do you know this name, worm?!" Voldemort shouted and threw the fire from his hand, it immediately collided with Danny's green one.

"You are on the list for the long time," Danny shook his head, "Why should you make it so complicated?" Phantom scratched his back. Now his tail was sticking out, shocking people present. He was too lazy to wrap it around his waist.

"You did a very stupid thing, ya know?" Danny summoned a chair and sat on it, "Firstly, why not to make Horcrux from, I dunno, some farmer's shoe? NOT from Slytherin's locket or Ravenclaw's Diadem? Or you could just throw Horcruxes on the bottom of the ocean, so nobody will find them, but nooo, you needed to be symbolical! Now all you have is the ring, besides the other one, of course"

"I have only six of them," Voldemort growled. He starts to hate this boy even more than Potter. Danny looked at him as if he was an idiot.

"He doesn't even know! Oh, that's just brilliant!"

"ENOUGH! Get him, you morons!"

Death Eaters started to shoot at him, but Danny lazily summoned ectoshield to block them.

"My order was to get the ring. Not you, Riddle, plus I'd like to have some fun in the future. Tata"

Phantom dissapeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving humiliated Dark Lord and his followers behind.

A.N. I really hope you liked the last part. Check out my new story as well, please.


	19. Chapter XIX: Inside the Ministry

There was nobody inside Umbridge's office. Harry had expected this, yet was not prepared for the molten wave of dread and panic that seemed to burst through his stomach at the sight of the deserted room. He had a dream during exams, about Sirius being caught and tortured by Voldemort. Harry wanted to go to Department of Mysteries immediately, but Hermione convinced him to check on Sirius first. That's why they were in new Headmistress' office.

"Sirius?" Harry shouted, "Sirius, are you there?"

His voice echoed around the room, but there was no answer except a tiny scuffing sound to the right of the fire.

"Who's there?" he called, wondering whether it was just a mouse. Fire then revealed very familiar face.

"Hey there, Harry," Danny said, grinning, but smile instantly disappeared after the sight of Harry's terrified face.

"Where is Sirius, Danny?" Harry asked. Phantom blinked.

"I don't know. There is nobody here," Harry was even more scared, "Flames between, Kreacher, what have you done again?!" Danny shouted and walked out of view.

Harry felt a great pain at the top of his head; he inhaled a lot of ash and, choking, found himself being dragged backwards through the flames, until with a horrible abruptness he was staring up into the wide, pallid face of Professor Umbridge who had dragged him backwards out of the fire by the hair and was now bending his neck back as far as it would go, as though she were going to slit his throat.

"You think," she whispered, bending Harry's neck back even further, so that he was looking up at the ceiling, "that after two Nifflers I was going to let one more foul, scavenging little creature enter my office without my knowledge? I had Stealth Sensoring Spells placed all around my doorway after the last one got in, you foolish boy. Take his wand," she barked at someone he could not see, and he felt a hand grope inside the chest pocket of his robes and remove the wand, "Hers, too"

Harry heard a scuffle over by the door and knew that Hermione had also just had her wand wrested from her.

"I want to know why you are in my office," said Umbridge, shaking the fist clutching his hair so that he staggered.

"I was...trying to get my Firebolt!" Harry croaked.

"Liar," She shook his head again, "Your Firebolt is under strict guard in the dungeons, as you very well know, Potter. You had your head in my fire. With whom have you been communicating?"

"No one..." said Harry, trying to pull away from her. He felt several hairs part ways with his scalp.

"Liar!" shouted Umbridge. She threw him from her and he slammed into the desk. Now he could see Hermione pinned against the wall by Millicent Bulstrode. Malfoy was leaning on the windowsill, smirking as he threw Harry's wand into the air one-handed and caught it again.

There was a commotion outside and several large Slytherins entered, each gripping Ron, Ginny, Luna and, to Harry's bewilderment, Neville, who was trapped in a stranglehold by Crabbe and looked in imminent danger of suffocation. All four of them had been gagged.

"Got 'em all," said Warrington, shoving Ron roughly forwards into the room, "That one," he poked a thick finger at Neville, "tried to stop me taking her," he pointed at Ginny, who was trying to kick the shins of the large Slytherin girl holding her, "so I brought him along too"

"Good, good," said Umbridge, watching Ginny's struggles, "Well, it looks as though Hogwarts will shortly be a Weasley-free zone, doesn't it?"

Malfoy laughed loudly and sycophantically. Umbridge gave her wide, complacent smile and settled herself into a chintz-covered armchair, blinking up at her captives like a toad in a flowerbed.

"So, Potter," she said, "You stationed lookouts around my office and you sent this buffoon," she nodded at Ron, Malfoy laughed even louder, "to tell me the poltergeist was wreaking havoc in the Transfiguration department when I knew perfectly well that he was busy smearing ink on the eyepieces of all the school telescopes, Mr. Filch having just informed me so"

"Clearly, it was very important for you to talk to somebody. Was it Albus Dumbledore? Or the half-breed, Hagrid? I doubt it was Minerva McGonagall, I hear she is still too ill to talk to anyone"

Malfoy and a few of the other members of the Inquisitorial Squad laughed some more at that. Harry found he was so full of rage and hatred he was shaking.

"It's none of your business who I talk to," he snarled.

Umbridge's slack face seemed to tighten.

"Very well," she said in her most dangerous and falsely sweet voice, "Very well, Mr. Potter ... I offered you the chance to tell me freely. You refused. I have no alternative but to force you. Draco..."

Suddenly laugh filled the air, the one Umbridge remembered TOO well.

"Hello, Jane," said Danny, dropping invisibility behind them all and grinning widely, "missed me?"

"YOU!" Umbridge shouted. Before she shot a spell, he teleported right in front of her and punched Dolores in the face, knocking her out.

"Oh, you can't imagine how long I dreamed to do that," Danny said, clearly excited. He then looked at his friends, hold by Inquisition Squad, "Alright, folks, let them go. It will save all of us time and pain"

"It's six of us against you," said Crabbe. Phantom chuckled.

"Wow, you can count till six, congratulations," he clapped sarcastically, "haven't your parents told you, how I humiliated Voldie not so long ago?" Everyone's jaws dropped, "I still give you a chance to walk away with your dignity intact," Danny's eye became glowing green, scaring his opponents. After some contemplations, Slytherins decided to go away.

Phantom came to Luna and untied her. They kissed the second she was free, wrapping hands around each other. Couple's meeting was interrupted by loud cough. Danny glared at Harry.

"Party pooper," he grumbled.

"How did you get here?" Ginny asked.

"I can teleport, fly and go through solid objects," Danny shrugged. Neville and Ginny gaped at him, "Anyway, Harry, what are you planning to do?"

"We need to get to the Ministry," Harry answered urgently.

"And how exactly?"

"Well, we'll have to fly, won't we?" said Luna, in the closest thing to a matter-of-fact voice.

"OK," said Harry irritably, rounding on her, "First of all, "we" aren't doing anything if you're including yourself in that, and second of all, Ron's me only one with a broomstick that isn't being guarded by a security troll, so..."

"I've got a broom!" said Ginny.

"Yeah, but you're not coming," said Ron angrily.

"Excuse me, but I care what happens to Sirius as much as you do!" said Ginny, her jaw set so that her resemblance to Fred and George was suddenly striking.

"You're too..." Harry began, but Ginny said fiercely, "I'm three years older than you were when you fought You-Know-Who over the Philosophers Stone, and it's because of me that Malfoy's stuck back in Umbridge's office with giant flying bogies attacking him..."

"Yeah, but..."

"We were all in the DA together," said Neville quietly, "It was all supposed to be about fighting You-Know-Who, wasn't it? And this is the first chance we've had to do something real--or was that all just a game or something?"

"No...of course it wasn't..." said Harry impatiently.

"Then we should come too," said Neville simply, "We want to help"

"That's right," said Luna, smiling happily.

"Are you sure of that?" Danny asked concerned, but she just nodded.

"Well, it doesn't matter, anyway," said Harry through gritted teeth, "because we still don't know how to get there..."

"I thought we'd settled that," said Luna maddeningly, "We're flying!"

"Look," said Ron, barely containing his anger, "you might be able to fly without a broomstick but the rest of us can't sprout wings whenever we..."

"There are ways of flying other than with broomsticks," said Danny, smirking, but still narrowing his eyes slightly at Ron.

-Laater-

"Why are we here?" Harry asked. They were currently on the open ground in Forbidden Forest.

"To get to the Ministry, of course," Danny said before whistling so loud that they needed to cover their ears.

"Why did you..." Hermione started, but was interrupted by deafening roar.

Everyone jumped in fright, besides Luna and Danny. Some time later, white dragon landed on the ground and made another sound. Danny came closer and started stroking it under chin.

"Hey, Albina, don't you mind give us a ride?"

"DRAGON?!" people shouted. Danny looked at them.

"Yep, bailed her out of Gringotts," they stared at Phantom, who rolled his eyes, "Just hold tight and everything would be fine"

"Mad...that's just mad," Ron muttered, climbing on Albina's back. Soon, everyone was on the dragon, clutching spikes on her back.

"Alright, girl, take us to the Ministry!" Danny shouted. The dragon spreaded her wings and rapidly flew into the air.

They were over the Hogwarts grounds, they had passed Hogsmeade; Danny could see mountains and gullies below them. As the daylight began to fail, he saw small collections of lights as they passed over more villages, then a winding road on which a single car was beetling its way home through the hills ...

"That's amazing!" Danny heard Luna and smiled. He agreed fully.

Twilight fell: the sky was turning to a light, dusky purple littered with tiny silver stars, and soon only the lights of Muggle towns gave them any clue of how far from the ground they were, or how very fast they were travelling. On they flew through the gathering darkness.

And now bright orange lights were growing larger and rounder on all sides; they could see the tops of buildings, streams of headlights like luminous insect eyes, squares of pale yellow that were windows.

"Eh, Danny," Harry said, "how are we supposed to get down?"

"Simple," Danny turned to them with a grin, which they didn't like in the slightest, "jump"

"WHAT?!" everyone shouted.

"Albina is too big and noticable. But if you don't want to jump..." Danny made the dragon invisible, making Ron and Neville almost let go.

They landed as quiet as dragon can. Everyone slid from Albina's back, looking around at the street where the overflowing skip still stood a short way from the vandalised telephone box, both drained of colour in the flat orange glare of the streetlights.

"Never again," Ron said, struggling to his feet. He made as though to stride away from dragon, but, unable to see it, collided with her leg and almost fell over again, "Never, ever again ... that was the worst..."

Hermione and Ginny touched down on either side of him: both slid off their mounts a little more gracefully than Ron, though with similar expressions of relief at being back on firm ground; Neville jumped down, shaking; and Luna dismounted smoothly, while Danny flew down.

"You can go now, buddy," Danny said and Albina flew into air.

"Where do we go from here, then?" Luna asked Danny in a politely interested voice, as though this was all a rather interesting day-trip.

"Over here," Harry said. He led the way quickly to the battered telephone box and opened the door, "Come on!" he urged the others, as they hesitated.

Ron and Ginny marched in obediently; Hermione, Neville, Luna and Danny squashed themselves in after them; Harry forced himself into the box after Luna.

"Whoever's nearest the receiver, dial six two four four two!" he said.

Ron did it, his arm bent bizarrely to reach the dial; as it whirred back into place the cool female voice sounded inside the box.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business"

"Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger," Harry said very quickly, "Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Danny Work...we're here to save someone, unless your Ministry can do it first!"

"Thank you," said the cool female voice, "Visitors, please take the badges and attach them to the front of your robes"

Seven badges slid out of the metal chute where returned coins normally appeared. Hermione scooped them up and handed them mutely to Harry over Ginny's head; he glanced at the topmost one, Harry Potter,Rescue Mission.

"Visitors to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and present your wands for registration at the security desk, which is located at the far end of the Atrium"

"Wow, even during crisis they are calm," Danny said.

The only sound in the Atrium was the steady rush of water from the golden fountain, where jets from the wands of the witch and wizard, the point of the centaur's arrow, the tip of the goblin's hat and the house-elf's ears continued to gush into the surrounding pool.

"Come on," said Harry quietly and the seven of them sprinted off down the hall, Harry in the lead, past the fountain towards.

Danny felt sure there ought to be a security person there, sure their absence was an ominous sign, and his feeling of foreboding increased as they passed through the golden gates to the lifts. Harry pressed the nearest 'down' button and a lift clattered into sight almost immediately, the golden grilles slid apart with a great, echoing clanking and they dashed inside. Harry stabbed the number nine button; the grilles closed with a bang and the lift began to descend, jangling and rattling.

The cool female voice said, 'Department of Mysteries,' and the grilles slid open. They stepped out into the corridor where nothing was moving out but the nearest torches, flickering in the rush of air from the lift.

Harry turned towards the plain black door. After months and months of dreaming about it, he was here at last.

"Let's go," he whispered, and he led the way down the corridor, Luna right behind him, gazing around with her mouth slightly open.

"OK, listen," said Harry, stopping again within six feet of the door, "Maybe ... maybe a couple of people should stay here as a-as a lookout, and..."

"And how're we going to let you know something's coming?" asked Ginny, her eyebrows raised, "You could be miles away"

"I'm on it!" Danny said and created a duplicate, shocking everyone, "You can't imagine how strange it is," two Dannys said synchronical, "seeing two places at the same time is weird. Let's go now"

Harry still did not want to take them all with him, but it seemed he had no choice. He turned to face the door and walked forwards ... just as it had in his dream, it swung open and he marched over the threshold, the others at his heels.

They were standing in a large, circular room. Everything in here was black including the floor and ceiling; identical, unmarked, handleless black doors were set at intervals all around the black walls, interspersed with branches of candles whose flames burned blue; their cool, shimmering light reflected in the shining marble floor made it look as though there was dark water underfoot.

"Someone shut the door," Harry muttered.

He regretted giving this order the moment Neville had obeyed it. Without the long chink of light from the torchlit corridor behind them, the place became so dark that for a moment the only things they could see were the bunches of shivering blue flames on the walls and their ghostly reflections in the floor.

For a few seconds, the blue flames around them were blurred to resemble neon lines as the wall sped around; then, quite as suddenly as it had started, the rumbling stopped and everything became stationary once again.

"What was that about?" whispered Ron fearfully.

"It was to stop us knowing which door we came in through. But way back is there," said Danny and pointed on one of the doors.

"We won't need to get out till we've found Sirius," said Harry.

"Don't go calling for him, though!" Danny said urgently; but Harry had never needed his advice less, his instinct was to keep as quiet as possible.

"Where do we go, then, Harry?" Ron asked.

"I don't..." Harry began. He swallowed, "In the dreams I went through the door at the end of the corridor from the lifts into a dark room, that's this one, and then I went through another door into a room that kind of ... glitters. We should try a few doors," he said hastily, "I'll know the right way when I see it. C'mon"

He marched straight at the door now facing him, the others following close behind him, set his left hand against its cool, shining surface, raised his wand ready to strike the moment it opened, and pushed.

It swung open easily.

After the darkness of the first room, the lamps hanging low on golden chains from this ceiling gave the impression that this long rectangular room was much brighter, though there were no glittering, shimmering lights as Harry had seen in his dreams. The place was quite empty except for a few desks and, in the very middle of the room, an enormous glass tank of deep green liquid, big enough for all of them to swim in; a number of pearly-white objects were drifting around lazily in it.

"What're those things?" whispered Ron.

"Dunno," said Harry.

"Are they fish?" breathed Ginny.

"Aquavirius Maggots!" said Luna excitedly, "Dad said the Ministry were breeding..."

"I'm afraid these are not them, Luna," Danny said, grimacing, "They're brains"

"Let's get out of here," said Harry, "This isn't right, we need to try another door"

"There are doors here, too," said Ron, pointing around the walls.

"In my dream I went through that dark room into the second one," Harry said, "I think we should go back and try from there"

So they hurried back into the dark, circular room;

"Wait!" said Hermione sharply, as Luna made to close the door of the brain room behind them, "Flagrate!"

She drew with her wand in midair and a fiery 'X' appeared on the door. No sooner had the door clicked shut behind them than there was a great rumbling, and once again the wall began to revolve very fast, but now there was a great red-gold blur in amongst the faint blue and, when all became still again, the fiery cross still burned, showing the door they had already tried.

"Good thinking," said Danny

"Okay, let's try this one..." Harry said

Again, he strode directly at the door facing him and pushed it open, his wand still raised, the others at his heels.

This room was larger than the last, dimly lit and rectangular, and the centre of it was sunken, forming a great stone pit some twenty feet deep. They were standing on the topmost tier of what seemed to be stone benches running all around the room and descending in steep steps like an amphitheatre. There was a raised stone dais in the centre of the pit, on which stood a stone archway that looked so ancient, cracked and crumbling that Harry was amazed the thing was still standing. Unsupported by any surrounding wall, the archway was hung with a tattered black curtain or veil which, despite the complete stillness of the cold surrounding air, was fluttering very slightly as though it had just been touched. Danny looked at it curiosly.

"Who's there?" said Harry, jumping down on to the bench below. There was no answering voice, but the veil continued to flutter and sway.

"Careful!" whispered Hermione.

Harry and Danny scrambled down the benches one by one until he reached the stone bottom of the sunken pit. Their footsteps echoed loudly as he walked slowly towards the dais. The pointed archway looked much taller from where they now stood than it had when they'd been looking down on it from above. Still the veil swayed gently, as though somebody had just passed through it.

"Sirius?" Harry spoke again, but more quietly now that he was nearer.

He had the strangest feeling that there was someone standing right behind the veil on the other side of the archway. Gripping his wand very tightly, he edged around the dais, but there was nobody there; all that could be seen was the other side of the tattered black veil.

"Let's go," called Hermione from halfway up the stone steps, "This isn't right, Harry, Danny, come on, let's go"

"Of course it is not right!" Danny said, "I know what it is, we should go," he was fuming. How wizards managed to create a portal to his kingdom?

"Do you hear whispers?" Harry asked.

"Yes, this is a portal to the Infinite Realms. Isn't the most stable, I should admit. Let's go, I will destroy this thing later"

They returned to the circular room. Once more, the wall span and became still again. Harry approached another door at random and pushed.

"This is it!"

He knew it at once by the beautiful, dancing, diamond-sparkling light. As Harry's eyes became accustomed to the brilliant glare, he saw clocks gleaming from every surface, large and small, grandfather and carriage, hanging in spaces between the bookcases or standing on desks ranging the length of the room, so that a busy, relentless ticking filled the place like thousands of minuscule, marching footsteps. The source of the dancing, diamond-bright light was a towering crystal bell jar that stood at the far end of the room.

"Ancients, it looks just like at home," Danny said.

"This way!" Harry shouted.

He glanced around at them all; they had their wands out and looked suddenly serious and anxious. He looked back at the door and pushed. It swung open.

They were there, they had found the place: high as a church and full of nothing but towering shelves covered in small, dusty glass orbs. They glimmered dully in the light issuing from more candle-brackets set at intervals along the shelves. Like those in the circular room behind them, their flames were burning blue. The room was very cold.

Harry edged forward and peered down one of the shadowy aisles between two rows of shelves. He could not hear anything or see the slightest sign of movement.

"You said it was row ninety-seven," whispered Hermione.

"Yeah," breathed Harry, looking up at the end of the closest row. Beneath the branch of blue-glowing candles protruding from it glimmered the silver figure fifty-three.

"We need to go right, I think," whispered Hermione, squinting to the next row, "Yes ... that's fifty-four ..."

"Keep your wands ready," Harry said softly.

They passed row eighty-four ... eighty-five ... Harry was listening hard for the slightest sound of movement, but Sirius might be gagged now, or else unconscious ... or, said an unbidden voice inside his head, he might already be dead ...

"Ninety-seven!" Said Danny.

They stood grouped around the end of the row, gazing down the alley beside it. There was nobody there.

"He's right down at the end," said Harry, whose mouth had become slightly dry, "You can't see properly from here"

And he led them between the towering rows of glass balls, some of which glowed softly as they passed ...

"He should be near here," whispered Harry, convinced that every step was going to bring the ragged form of Sirius into view on the darkened floor, "Anywhere here ... really close ..."

"Harry?" said Hermione tentatively, but he did not want to respond. His mouth was very dry.

"Somewhere about ... here ..." he said.

They had reached the end of the row and emerged into more dim candlelight, There was nobody there. All was echoing, dusty silence.

"Harry?" said Hermione.

"What?" he snarled.

"I ... I don't think Sirius is here"

Nobody spoke. Harry did not want to look at any of them. He felt sick. He did not understand why Sirius was not here. He had to be here. This was where he, Harry, had seen him ...

He ran up the space at the end of the rows, staring down them. Empty aisle after empty aisle flickered past. He ran the other way, back past his staring companions. There was no sign of Sirius anywhere, nor any hint of a struggle.

"Harry?" Danny called.

"What?"

"Have you seen this?" said Danny

"What?" said Harry, Phantom pointed at one of the dusty glass spheres on the shelf.

"What?" Harry repeated glumly.

"It's got your name on," said Danny.

"My name?" said Harry blankly, moving closer.

He stepped forwards. Not as tall as Danny, he had to crane his neck to read the yellowish label affixed to the shelf right beneath the dusty glass ball. In spidery writing was written a date of some sixteen years previously, and below that:

S.P.T. to A.P.W.B.D.

Dark Lord

and (?)Harry Potter

Harry stared at it.

"Harry, I don't think you should touch it," said Hermione sharply, as he stretched out his hand.

"Why not?" he said, "It's something to do with me, isn't it?"

"Don't, Harry," said Neville suddenly. Harry looked at him. Neville's round face was shining slightly with sweat. He looked as though he could not take much more suspense.

"It's got my name on," said Harry.

Harry lifted the glass ball down from its shelf and stared at it.

Nothing whatsoever happened. The others moved in closer around Harry, gazing at the orb as he brushed it free of the clogging dust.

And then, from right behind them, a drawling voice spoke.

"Very good, Potter. Now turn around, nice and slowly, and give that to me"

A.N. BUAHAHAHA, CLIFFHANGER!


	20. Chapter XX: Congratulations, Mr Black

Black shapes were emerging out of thin air all around them, blocking their way left and right; eyes glinted through slits in hoods, a dozen lit wand tips were pointing directly at their hearts.

"It's a trap!" Danny's companions stared at him, "C'mon, haven't you watched Star...of course you haven't"

"To me, Potter," repeated the drawling voice of Lucius Malfoy as he held out his hand, palm up.

"Where's Sirius?" Harry said.

Several of the Death Eaters laughed; a harsh female voice from the midst of the shadowy figures to Harry's left said triumphantly, "The Dark Lord always knows!"

"Always,"echoed Malfoy softly.

"Except proper ways to hide his soul, but that's not important," Phantom said, grinning.

"HOW DARE YOU..." the woman, Bellatrix, shouted. Danny lifted his hand with pocketclock and pressed the button. He came right to her and punched her into gut. Hard. Then Danny returned on his place, pressing the button again. The woman dropped on the ground, gasping for air.

"And now you have witnessed what my family is so famous for," Phantom grinned.

"Enough, give me the prophecy, Potter"

"I know Sirius is here," said Harry, though panic was causing his chest to constrict and he felt as though he could not breathe properly, "I know you've got him!"

More of the Death Eaters laughed.

"It's time you learned the difference between life and dreams, Potter," said Malfoy, "Now give me the prophecy, or we start using wands"

"Go on, then," said Harry, raising his own wand to chest height. As he did so, the five wands of Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny and Luna rose on either side of him. Danny was still leaning on his cane. The knot in Harry's stomach tightened. If Sirius really was not here, he had led his friends to their deaths for no reason at all.

But the Death Eaters did not strike.

"Hand over the prophecy and no one need get hurt," said Malfoy coolly.

"Yeah, right!" Danny said, "He gives you this...prophecy, is it? And you'll just let us skip off home, will you? Rule number one, folks, never trust bad guys. Plus you are still walking because I want to," Death Eaters didn't laugh, they were present in Gaunts' shack.

"So," said Harry, "what kind of prophecy are we talking about, anyway?"

He could not think what to do but to keep talking. Neville's arm was pressed against his, and he could feel him shaking; he could feel one of the others' quickened breath on the back of his head. He was hoping they were all thinking hard about ways to get out of this, because his mind was blank.

"What kind of prophecy?" repeated Bellatrix, who finally got up, the grin fading from her face, "You jest, Harry Potter"

"Nope, not jesting," said Harry, his eyes flicking from Death Eater to Death Eater, looking for a weak link, a space through which they could escape, "How come Voldemort wants it?"

Several of the Death Eaters let out low hisses.

"You dare speak his name?" whispered Bellatrix.

"Yep," Danny said, popping 'p', "Voldie, Voldie, Voldem..."

"Shut your mouth!" Bellatrix shrieked, "You dare speak his name with your unworthy lips, you dare besmirch it with your half-blood's tongue, you dare..." Danny laughed.

"Didn't Wall-Plug-Nose tell you that his daddy was muggle?"

"STUPEF..."

Danny yet again repeated the trick to shut Bellatrix up.

"It's about time you run away screaming," Phantom grinned and took off an eyepatch, revealing his glowing eye. He lifted his hand and then made a swift motion. The towering structure swayed as a hundred glass spheres burst apart, pearly-white figures unfurled into the air and floated there, their voices echoing from who knew what long-dead past amid the torrent of crashing glass and splintered wood now raining down upon the floor.

"RUN!" Harry yelled, as the shelves swayed precariously and more glass spheres began to fall from above. He seized a handful of Hermione's robes and dragged her forwards, holding one arm over his head as chunks of shelf and shards of glass thundered down upon them. A Death Eater lunged forwards through the cloud of dust and Harry elbowed him hard in the masked face; they were all yelling, there were cries of pain, and thunderous crashes as the shelves collapsed upon themselves, weirdly echoing fragments of the Seers unleashed from their spheres.

Danny was following close by, fighting Death Eaters on his way, which wasn't a lot, looks like they were afraid to go against him. So he teleported from one spot to the other, attacking unsuspecting enemies. They were at the end of row ninety-seven; Harry turned right and began to sprint in earnest; he could hear footsteps right behind him and Hermione's voice urging Neville on; straight ahead, the door through which they had come was ajar; Harry could see the glittering light of the bell jar; he pelted through the doorway, the prophecy still clutched tight and safe in his hand, and waited for the others to hurtle over the threshold before slamming the door behind them.

"Colloportus!" gasped Hermione and the door sealed itself with an odd squelching noise.

"Where are the others?" Asked Danny, extremely worried.

"They must have gone the wrong way!" whispered Hermione, terror in her face.

"Listen!" whispered Neville.

Footsteps and shouts echoed from behind the door they had just sealed; Danny easily heard Lucius Malfoy roar, "Leave Nott, leave him, I say... his injuries will be nothing to the Dark Lord compared to losing that prophecy. Jugson, come back here, we need to organise! We'll split into pairs and search, and don't forget, be gentle with Potter until we've got the prophecy, you can kill the others if necessary...Rodolphus, you take the left; Crabbe, Rabastan, go right, Jugson, Dolohov, the door straight ahead, Macnair and Avery, through here, Rookwood, over there, Mulciber, come with me!"

"What do we do?" Hermione asked, trembling from head to foot.

"You hide, I kick their butts, trust me," Danny said.

They ran as quietly as they could, past the shimmering bell jar where the tiny egg was hatching and unhatching, towards the exit into the circular hallway at the far end of the room. They were almost there when Harry heard something large and heavy collide with the door Hermione had charmed shut.

"Stand aside!" said a rough voice, "Alohomora!"

As the door flew open, Harry, Hermione and Neville dived under desks. They could see the bottom of the two Death Eaters' robes drawing nearer, their feet moving rapidly.

"They might've run straight through to the hall," said one of the Death Eaters.

"You think so?" Danny asked, appearing behind and knocking them both out. He went to the others.

"Alright, we're right next to that circular room ... if we can just get you across it and find the right door before any more Death Eaters come. You could find someone and raise the alarm ..."

"And what are you going do do?" said Neville, frowning at Danny.

"We've got to find the others," said Harry.

"Well, I'll go with you,"said Neville firmly.

"But...nevermind"

"My gran's going do kill be," said Neville thickly.

They crept out of the office and back towards the door into the black hallway, which now seemed completely deserted. They walked a few steps forwards, the door of the Time Room swung shut behind them and the walls began to rotate once more.

"So which way d'you reck..."

But before they could make a decision as to which way to try, a door to their right sprang open and three people fell out of it.

"Ron!" croaked Harry, dashing towards them, "Ginny, are you all..."

"Harry," said Ron, giggling weakly, lurching forwards, seizing the front of Harry's robes and gazing at him with unfocused eyes, "there you are ... ha ha ha ... you look funny, Harry ... you're all messed up ..."

Ron's face was very white and something dark was trickling from the corner of his mouth. Next moment his knees had given way, but he still clutched the front of Harry's robes, so that Harry was pulled into a kind of bow.

"What happened?"

But Ginny shook her head and slid down the wall into a sitting position, panting and holding her ankle.

"I think her ankle's broken, I heard something crack," whispered Luna, who was bending over her and who alone seemed to be unhurt, "Four of them chased us into a dark room full of planets; it was a very odd place, some of the time we were just floating in the dark..."

"Space?! Why didn't I go there?" Danny shouted.

"Danny, we saw Uranus up close!" said Ron, still giggling feebly, "Get it, Danny? We saw Uranus, ha ha"

A bubble of blood grew at the corner of Ron's mouth and burst.

"Being babbling idiot is my feature, Ron, so snap out of it already!"

"...anyway, one of them grabbed Ginny's foot, I used the Reductor Curse and blew up Pluto in his face, but ..."

Luna gestured hopelessly at Ginny, who was breathing in a very shallow way, her eyes still closed.

"And what about Ron?" said Harry fearfully, as Ron continued to giggle, still hanging off the front of Harry's robes.

"I don't know what they hit him with," said Luna sadly, "but he's gone a bit funny, I could hardly get him along at all"

"Harry," said Ron, pulling Harry's ear down to his mouth and still giggling weakly, "you know who this girl is, Harry? She's Loony ... Loony Lovegood ... ha ha ha ..."

"Are you sure they didn't just take him to the pub?" Danny asked.

"We've got to get out of here," said Harry firmly, "Luna, can you help Ginny?"

"Yes," said Luna, sticking her wand behind her ear for safekeeping, then putting an arm around Ginny's waist and pulling her up.

"It's only my ankle, I can do it myself!" said Ginny impatiently, but next moment she had collapsed sideways and grabbed Luna for support. Harry pulled Ron's arm over his shoulder just as, so many months ago, he had pulled Dudley's. He looked around: they had a one in twelve chance of getting the exit right first time.

He heaved Ron towards a door; they were within a few feet of it when another door across the hall burst open and three Death Eaters sped in, led by Malfoy.

"Give. Me. The prophecy, Potter!" He said. Danny took the ball from Harry, using telekinesis.

"Now let me get this straight," he said, holding the prophecy, "one step and I break it," they stopped, causing him to grin, "wow, what a deja vu. Open the door anyone," Danny told his friends.

Neville did as was told and everyone stepped inside, Phantom being the last one. But the second he turned his back...

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

He was sent flying on a plenty big distance.

"DANNY!" everyone shouted, immediately they were grabbed by laughing Death Eaters.

"Well, well, looks like someone was overconfident," Malfoy said, picking up the ball.

Suddenly, loud groan was heard. Everybody turned to the source of the voice. Danny was getting up on his feet, to their undescirable shock.

"Yeah, you are right, shouldn't have turned back to the rats," he said chuckling and straightening his back with crack.

"HOW ARE YOU NOT DEAD?!" Lucius exclaimed. Danny laughed maniacally.

"That's the point, Malfoy," he threw the cane away, "you can't kill the dead"

Immediately pearly white ring appeared, moving up and down, changing his appearance. Both Death Eaters and his friends jumped in fright, except Luna. Danny now was wearing black and white attire, his eyes were blazing with green and red light, his hair became white fire, with green flaming crown on his head.

"Now let's see how you fair against the King of Hell"

He faded from sight with a Cheshire grin on his face. Death Eaters started to look around rapidly, trying to hear him approaching and shaking slightly from an eerie laugh, filling the air.

Then, high above them, two more doors burst open and five more people sprinted into the room: Sirius, Lupin, Moody, Tonks and Kingsley.

Malfoy turned, and raised his wand, but Tonks had already sent a Stunning Spell right at him. Harry did not wait to see whether it had made contact, but dived off the dais out of the way. The Death Eaters were completely distracted by Danny, to give proper first response and counterattack, diving out of the line of fire. Harry could see Neville crawling along. He dodged another jet of red light and flung himself flat on the ground to reach Neville.

"Are you OK?" he yelled, as another spell soared inches over their heads.

"Yes," said Neville, trying to pull himself up, "What's with Danny?" He asked.

"I'm half-ghost, bud," Danny said, appearing out of nowhere, "I heard footsteps out there, so I needed to distract them"

"How did you know that were they?" Asked Harry, ducking under other spell.

"Moody's wooden leg gives special sound, now, if you don't mind I'm gonna have fun"

Danny teleported right in front of the Death Eater, smiling innocently.

"Going somewhere?" He lifted him with one hand and threw the wizard some stairs down, grimacing, "that must hurt"

"Stupefy!" Danny quickly raised an ectoshield to protect himself from red blast.

The stone floor under him exploded as a spell hit it, leaving a crater right where Danny had been only seconds before. He, however, can fly, so Phantom landed on his legs easily. He noticed how Luna was dueling some Death Eater. Danny blasted him with an ectoblast.

"You alright?" Phantom shouted.

"Yes!" She responded. Danny nodded and became invisible again.

"DUBBLEDORE!" He heard Neville shout.

Danny turned to look where Neville was staring. Directly above them, framed in the doorway from the Brain Room, stood Albus Dumbledore, his wand aloft, his face white and furious.

Dumbledore sped down the steps past Neville and Harry, who had no more thoughts of leaving. Dumbledore was already at the foot of the steps when the Death Eaters nearest realised he was there and yelled to the others. One of the Death Eaters ran for it, scrabbling like a monkey up the stone steps opposite. Dumbledore's spell pulled him back as easily and effortlessly as though he had hooked him with an invisible line.

Only one pair was still battling, apparently unaware of the new arrival. Danny saw Sirius duck Bellatrix's jet of red light: he was laughing at her.

"Come on, you can do better than that!" he yelled, his voice echoing around the cavernous room.

The second jet of light hit him squarely on the chest.

The laughter had not quite died from his face, but his eyes widened in shock.

It seemed to take Sirius an age to fall: his body curved in a graceful arc as he sank backwards through the ragged veil hanging from the arch.

Harry saw the look of mingled fear and surprise on his guardian's wasted, once-handsome face as he fell through the ancient doorway and disappeared behind the veil, which fluttered for a moment as though in a high wind, then fell back into place.

Harry heard Bellatrix Lestrange's triumphant scream, but knew it meant nothing, Sirius had only just fallen through the archway, he would reappear from the other side any second ...

But Sirius did not reappear.

"SIRIUS!" Harry yelled, "SIRIUS!"

He had reached the floor, his breath coming in searing gasps. Sirius must be just behind the curtain, he, Harry, would pull him back out ...

But as he reached the ground and sprinted towards the dais, Lupin grabbed Harry around the chest, holding him back.

"There's nothing you can do, Harry"

"Get him, save him, he's only just gone through!"

"it's too late, Harry"

"We can still reach him," Harry struggled hard and viciously, but Lupin would not let go ...

"There's nothing you can do, Harry ... nothing ... he's gone"

"DRAMA QUEENS!" Danny shouted and entered the gateway, his cape following behind.

It was quiet for some time, they all were waiting for something to happen. Then, Phantom walked out of white mist, holding shaking Sirius.

"Where...in the bloody hell...was I?" He asked gasping and falling on the floor.

"Congratulations, Mr. Black. You are the first human who ever stepped in the Infinite Realms"

A.N. Yay, Sirius lives!


	21. Chapter XXI: Lord against Lord

"Where is Bellatrix?" Danny asked. Everyone looked around, searching for her, "Oh, no, I wouldn't let her escape so easily," he said, evaporating in black smoke.

Bellatrix was almost at the telephone lift at the other end of the Entrance hall, but she looked back as he sprinted towards her and aimed another spell at him. Danny just lazily dodged.

"You cannot win against me!" she cried, shooting another spell.

"I was and am the Dark Lord's most loyal servant. I learned the Dark Arts from him, and I know spells of such power that you, pathetic little boy, can never hope to compete..."

"Oh, shut up already!" Danny shouted, sending ectoblast right above her head. She flinched, it looked like he just shot Killing curse at her, "do you really think, that your pathetic light show can do anything? Plus, your dear old mate Voldemort is not going to be happy with you, is he?"

"What? What do you mean?" she cried, and for the first time there was fear in her voice. Danny shrugged.

"The prophecy now is just a pile of shattered glass," he smirked.

"LIAR!" she shrieked, but he could hear the terror behind the anger now, "YOU'VE GOT IT, AND YOU WILL GIVE IT TO ME! Accio prophecy! ACCIO PROPHECY!"

Danny laughed again because he knew it's pointless.

"Nothing there!" he shouted, "Nothing to summon! It smashed and nobody heard what it said, tell your boss that!"

"No!" she screamed, "It isn't true, you're lying! MASTER, I TRIED, I TRIED...DO NOT PUNISH ME"

"Don't waste your breath!" yelled Danny, his eyes gleaming, "He can't hear you from here!"

"Can't I?" said a high, cold voice.

Tall, thin and black-hooded, his ugly snakelike face white and gaunt, his scarlet, slit-pupilled eyes staring ... Lord Voldemort had appeared in the middle of the hall, his wand pointing at Danny.

"So, you smashed my prophecy?" said Voldemort softly, staring at him.

"Nope, Harry did it," Danny grinned.

"Master, I am sorry, I knew not, I was fighting the Animagus Black!" sobbed Bellatrix, flinging herself down at Voldemort's feet as he paced slowly nearer, "Master, you should know..."

"Be quiet, Bella," said Voldemort dangerously, "I shall deal with you in a moment. Do you think I have entered the Ministry of Magic to hear your snivelling apologies?"

"Which was stupid, by the way, snake face"

"I have nothing more to say to you, Work," he said quietly, "You have irked me for too long. AVADA KEDAVRA!"

This time Danny was prepared. He simply sidestepped it. He was laughing at Voldemort's surprised face.

"Is that all you can?"

Voldemort raised his wand and another jet of green light streaked at Phantom, who turned and was gone in a whirling of his cape. Next second, he had reappeared behind Voldemort, trying to blast him, but to no avail.

"It was really foolish to come here tonight, Tommy," Danny teased, "The Aurors are on their way..."

"By which time I shall be gone, and you will be dead!" spat Voldemort. He sent another killing curse at him but missed, instead hitting the security guard's desk, which burst into flame.

"I'm immortal, Tommy, you can't kill me!" He laughed, dissapearing again. Now Dark Lord was furious, immortality was something he tried to achieve all his life!

Danny appeared behind and shot a powerful blast. Voldemort was forced to conjure a shining silver shield out of thin air to deflect it. It caused no visible damage to the shield, though a deep, gong-like note reverberated from it...an oddly chilling sound. Bellatrix tried to attack, only to be stopped by the grinning duplicate.

"What do you seek, Work?" called Voldemort, his scarlet eyes narrowed over the top of the shield.

"Merely taking your life would not satisfy me, I admit..." Phantom said calmly, continuing to walk towards Voldemort as though he had not a fear in the world, as though nothing had happened to interrupt his stroll up the hall.

"There is nothing worse than death, child!" snarled Voldemort.

"I was dead most of my life, nevermind how paradoxal that sounds. Indeed, your failure to understand that there are things much worse than death always will be your greatest weakness. I, on the other hand, drank whiskey with Death last night"

Another jet of green light flew from behind the silver shield. Danny ducked out of the way, then waved his hand as though brandishing a whip. A long thin green flame flew out of them; it wrapped itself around Voldemort, shield and all. For a moment, it seemed Danny had won, but then the fiery rope became a serpent, which relinquished its hold on Voldemort at once and turned, hissing furiously, to face Phantom.

Voldemort vanished; the snake reared from the floor, ready to strike.

There was a burst of flame in midair above Danny just as Voldemort reappeared, standing on the plinth in the middle of the pool. At the same moment, Phantom made a fluid movement with his hand, the snake, which had been an instant from sinking its fangs into him, flew high into the air and vanished in a wisp of dark smoke; shattering the glass with a thunderous noise.

For a few seconds Voldemort was visible only as a dark, rippling, faceless figure, shimmering and indistinct upon the plinth, clearly struggling to throw off the suffocating mass. He raised his hands and all the glass flew in the air. Second later all the mass was sent flying at the halfa. But Phantom unleashed his most destructive attack. It could only be described as a wail, the deafening sound, which shook everything even beyond green sound waves, erupting from his mouth. Voldemort was sent flying backwards, just like everything else in the range.

Then he was gone and the water fell with a crash back into its pool, slopping wildly over the sides, drenching the polished floor. Danny started to look around. Voldemort appeared on the left and shot yet another killing curse. Phantom teleported away. But the second he reappeared...

"HARRY!" Danny heard the shout.

He looked to the source of the sound. Harry was lying on the ground, hit by Avada Kedavra, with Sirius by his side. Danny was terrified at first, but then he felt something. The Horcrux is gone. As for Harry, he obviously wasn't dead, Phantom sensed it. Voldemort was laughing maniacally.

"Well, it looks like I still got my prize," he said. To everyone's shock Danny started to chuckle loudly. He looked at Voldemort.

"You moron," was everything he said before teleporting right in front of Dark Lord. Danny grabbed him by throat, holding it so tight, that Voldemort dropped his wand both from that and surprise. Phantom lifted him from the ground with one hand easily, smirking.

"I told you many times, that you are a fool, Thomas," he said, chuckling, "but now you just jumped above your head!" Danny shouted and stomped on Voldemort's wand, snapping it in half.

"Wh...what?" Voldemort choked.

"You just destroyed your last Horcrux, Baldie!" Danny exclaimed, grinning like a madman. Dark Lord's red eyes widened, "now there is nothing stopping me from destroying you. Tom Marvollo Riddle, for all your crimes against the laws of life and death, I, Daniel Phantom, the King of Dead, sentence you to oblivion!" he said in a booming voice.

Phantom used the other hand and snapped Voldemort's neck. Tom Riddle hit the floor with a mundane finality, his body feeble and shrunken, the white hands empty, the snakelike face vacant and unknowing. Voldemort was dead. He started to slowly dissipate into dust, leaving nothing but the black smoke after him.

"NOO!" Bellatrix shouted, only to be blasted away by Danny's duplicate.

The floor was reflecting the emerald green flames that had burst into fire in all the fireplaces along one wall; and streams of witches and wizards were emerging from them, led by stunned-looking Cornelius Fudge forward.

"He was there!" shouted a scarlet-robed man with a ponytail, who was pointing at a pile of golden rubble on the other side of the hall, where Bellatrix had lain trapped only moments before, "I saw him, Mr. Fudge, I swear it was You-Know-Who!"

"I know, Williamson, I know, I saw him too!" gibbered Fudge, who was wearing pyjamas under his pinstriped cloak and was gasping as though he had just run miles, "Merlin's beard...here...here...in the Ministry of Magic!...great heavens above...it doesn't seem possible, my word, how can this be?"

"If you proceed downstairs into the Department of Mysteries, Cornelius," said Danny, appearing in the siting position, floating in midair so that the newcomers realised he was there for the first time (a few of them raised their wands; others simply looked terrified, Fudge jumped so much that his slipper-clad feet left the floor)"you will find several escaped Death Eaters contained in the Death Chamber, bound by an Anti-Disapparation Jinx and awaiting your decision as to what to do with them"

"Wh-ho are you?" Shaking Fudge asked.

"We have met twice before, candy man," Danny said, stepping on the ground, "When you tried to arrest Dumbledore I just took him away..."

"Work?!" He exclaimed, glancing nervously on Phantom's tail.

"Yep"

He looked wildly around at the Aurors he had brought with him and it could not have been clearer that he was in half a mind to cry, "Seize him!"

"Cornelius, I am ready to fight your men. Just keep in mind that I just fought with Voldemort and killed him!" Said Danny, grinning and spreading his hands widely. People stared at him in shock "It will be unwise, will it? A few minutes ago you saw proof, with your own eyes, that Dumbledore has been telling you the truth for a year. Lord Voldemort has returned, you have been chasing the wrong man for twelve months, and it is time you listened to sense if you have it! Even if he is gone now"

"I...don't...well," blustered Fudge, looking around as though hoping somebody was going to tell him what to do. When nobody did, he said, "Very well...Dawlish! Williamson! Go down to the Department of Mysteries and see ... Now...Mr. Work...what are you?"

"Half demon," he answered, giving a fanged grin, "now, now, don't be afraid, I'm a good guy here," he added, seeing some people faint, "I can tell you more later. AFTER I check up on Harry," Danny said, turning around.

"Harry...Harry Potter?"

Fudge wheeled around and stared at Harry, who was still lying on the ground, with Sirius sobbing near him.

"He-here?" said Fudge, goggling at Harry, "Why...what's all this about?"

"I shall explain everything," repeated Danny, "when Harry is back at school"

"Now see here, Work!" said Fudge, as Phantom walked back to Harry, "You are an unauthorised Magical Creature! You can't do things like that right in front of the Minister for Magic, you...you..."

His voice faltered as Danny surveyed him with his red and green eyes, with an unreadable expression on his face.

"You will give the order to fire Dolores Umbridge from both Ministry and Hogwarts," said Danny, "You will tell your Aurors to stop searching for Rubeus Hagrid so that he can return to work. I will give you ..." Phantom pulled a clock from his pocket and surveyed it..."half an hour of my time tonight, in which I think we shall be more than able to cover the important points of what has happened here. After that, I shall need to return to my duties. You don't have an authority to order me around, I'm the King of my world. But I'd like to discuss about diplomatical representative"

Danny walked to Sirius and shook his shoulder slightly.

"Don't even dare to say that this isn't my fault," Sirius said.

"Wasn't planning to, I just wanted to say..."

Harry suddenly got up abruptly, making even Danny jump in surprise. He was gasping for air.

"Harry!" Sirius shouted happily, hugging his ward.

"Hey," he said weakly, "what happened?"

"Well, Baldie is gone now. Forever," Danny answered smiling.

"Really?!" Harry asked.

"Yep. Ironically, it was the piece of Voldemort's soul which saved you from death, how did it feel?"

"I talked with my parents," Harry smiled.

"Really? And what did they say?"

"They wanted me to thank you from their name. And Sirius, Dad sends his regards"

They all laughed.

A.N. Soo, Voldie is dead. Next chapter will be just small pieces of aftermath. I know about next big story, you gonna love that.


	22. Chapter XXII: Aftermath

"Why do you reckon Professor Dumbledore wants to talk with us?" Asked Harry as he and Danny went to Headmaster's office. The last one shrugged.

"No clue"

They said the password, knocked on the door, then entered the room after hearing soft 'come in'. Dumbledore was sitting at his desk, looking at them over his moon spectacles.

"Sit down, please," he said, gesturing to the armchairs in front of him. They did as was told, "you are undoubtedly wondering why you are here. I wanted to apologize to you, Harry," they blinked in surprise.

"Don't you remember asking me, as you lay in the hospital wing during your first year, why Voldemort had tried to kill you when you were a baby?"

Harry nodded.

"Ought I to have told you then?"

Harry stared into the blue eyes and said nothing, but his heart was racing.

"You do not see the flaw in the plan yet? No ... perhaps not. Well, as you know, I decided not to answer you. Eleven, I told myself, was much too young to know. I had never intended to tell you when you were eleven. The knowledge would be too much at such a young age"

"I should have recognised the danger signs then. I should have asked myself why I did not feel more disturbed that you had already asked me the question to which I knew, one day, I must give a terrible answer. I should have recognised that I was too happy to think that I did not have to do it on that particular day ... you were too young, much too young"

"And so we entered your second year at Hogwarts. And once again you met challenges even grown wizards have never faced; once again you acquitted yourself beyond my wildest dreams. You did not ask me again, however, why Voldemort had left that mark on you. We discussed your scar, oh yes ... we came very, very close to the subject. Why did I not tell you everything?"

"Well, it seemed to me that twelve was, after all, hardly better than eleven to receive such information. I allowed you to leave my presence, bloodstained, exhausted but exhilarated, and if I felt a twinge of unease that I ought, perhaps, to have told you then, it was swiftly silenced. You were still so young, you see, and I could not find it in myself to spoil that night of triumph ...

"Do you see, Harry? Do you see the flaw in my brilliant plan now? I had fallen into the trap I had foreseen, that I had told myself I could avoid, that I must avoid"

"I don't..."

"I cared about you too much," said Dumbledore simply, "I cared more for your happiness than your knowing the truth, more for your peace of mind than my plan, more for your life than the lives that might be lost if the plan failed. In other words, I acted exactly as Voldemort expects we fools who love to act"

"Is there a defence? I defy anyone who has watched you as I have, and I have watched you more closely than you can have imagined, not to want to save you more pain than you had already suffered. What did I care if numbers of nameless and faceless people and creatures were slaughtered in the vague future, if in the here and now you were alive, and well, and happy? I never dreamed that I would have such a person on my hands"

"We entered your third year. I watched from afar as you struggled to repel dementors, as you found Sirius, learned what he was and rescued him. Was I to tell you then, at the moment when you had triumphantly snatched your godfather from the jaws of the Ministry? But now, at the age of thirteen, my excuses were running out. Young you might be, but you had proved you were exceptional. My conscience was uneasy, Harry. I knew the time must come soon ..."

"But you came out of the maze last year, having watched Cedric Diggory die, having escaped death so narrowly yourself ... and I did not tell you, though I knew, now Voldemort had returned, I must do it soon. And now, tonight, I know you have long been ready for the knowledge I have kept from you for so long, because you have proved that I should have placed the burden upon you before this. My only defence is this: I have watched you struggling under more burdens than any student who has ever passed through this school and I could not bring myself to add another-the greatest one of all"

Harry waited, but Dumbledore did not speak.

"I still don't understand"

"Voldemort tried to kill you when you were a child because of a prophecy made shortly before your birth. He knew the prophecy had been made, though he did not know its full contents. He set out to kill you when you were still a baby, believing he was fulfilling the terms of the prophecy. He discovered, to his cost, that he was mistaken, when the curse intended to kill you backfired. And so, since his return to his body, and particularly since your extraordinary escape from him last year, he has been determined to hear that prophecy in its entirety. This is the weapon he has been seeking so assiduously since his return: the knowledge of how to destroy you"

"But I heard the prophecy, when it was told. I remember it as if it was yesterday. ' The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... and either must die for neither can live while the other survives ... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies ...'"

"But it was Danny, who..."

"I might have an explanation," Phantom interrupted, "even the most gifted Seers see only one possible outcome. Actually, there are some unchanging things, such as the part '...and either must die for neither can live while the other survives'. You should have died in order to defeat Voldemort. Only my Dad can see all possibilities. I once asked him, what will be if it wasn't for my intervention," he had a grim look on his face.

"And what will be?" Harry asked.

"It results in many things. During your next year, Albus would die," Danny said, others' eyes widened in shock, "then, Harry, Ron and Hermione would go into hiding, because Voldemort's puppet would become a Minister, taking over the control. You would go through many things, you would even rob Gringotts to get Horcrux"

"Everything would end in the Battle of Hogwarts, where two sides, each counting more than hundred members, will fight. Many would die, Remus, Tonks," he continued with sad tone, "Alastor would die long before. Fred would die in the battle"

"And...how would I die?" Asked Dumblesore.

"Do you remember Gaunt's ring? It was cursed, you were dying from it slowly. You decided to get anything good from it. When you were ambushed by Death Eaters, Snape was the one to finish you, earning Voldemort's full trust"

For a long time, neither of them spoke. Somewhere far beyond the office walls, they could hear the sound of voices, students heading down to the Great Hall for an early breakfast, perhaps.

-Later-

It was indeed breakfast, when Danny and Harry went into Great Hall. Phantom was currently telling his friend about his battle.

"...then I wailed on top of my lungs and he was sent flying!" He laughed.

Students looked at him, some in fear, some in curiosity. They read the newspaper, they now know what he is, so Danny didn't need to hide tail anymore, what a joy.

"And how powerful it was?" Asked Luna, coming closer, "we heard it all the way to the Death Chamber"

"It was just a fraction, last time I checked it could take down a city block," more people looked at him with fear.

"Nice," was everything she said.

"Oh, almost forgot. Here, take this," Danny gave her some pictures, "I made a duplicate, who was taking photos during battle. Give them to your father"

"Thank you," Luna responded, "are you going to return to your world now, when Voldemort is gone?" She asked, sadly.

"Well, I still have to finish education," Danny answered, winking. She gave him a kiss on a cheek and he grinned stupidly yet again.

-Lateer-

"Now comes the most interesting part," said Danny, walking alongside Harry on Privet Drive.

"Why didn't Sirius come with us?" He asked.

"He is still wanted among muggles, besides, we don't want him to blast Dursleys in the face, right?" Phantom said, twirling his cane.

"Maybe you don't"

They came to Number 4. The whole point of visit was to take Harry's belongings and move them to Grimmauld Place. Danny tagged along because he was bored. Plus anyone needed to transport them. Number 4 was just like every house on the street, brick two story building.

"Neat," Danny said, referring to the accurate lawn. They came to the door and he pressed the doorbell button. They heard stomping of the feet on the other side. Some time later the door was opened by tall and thin woman, Phantom was reminded about horse, somewhat. She threw Harry a nasty look.

"Oh, it's you," she said, her look then fell on Danny, "and who is that, one of your dirty friends?"

"Actually, Mrs. Dursley, I have a shower everyday," he said, flashing fanged smirk. Petunia flinched, also noticing pointy ears, "worry not, we aren't here for long," Danny added as the two walked into living room. There was a very fat man, with almost unrecognizable neck, he was reading the newspaper. He looked over the newspaper on them.

"Who the hell are you?" He shouted.

"Daniel Phantom. Harry, go pack your things, I'll wait here"

"What do you mean?" Vernon asked, as Harry went upstairs and Danny dropped on an armchair.

"Harry is moving to his godfather," he answered.

"This pest has a godfather?" Phantom narrowed his opened eye.

"Yes, and from what I heard...and saw, Sirius is million times more noble than you"

"How dare..." Danny pointed the end of his cane at Petunia.

"You better watch your mouth, unlike Harry, I'm allowed to jinx you into next week," she stumbled back a few steps, "not to mention my other abilities," Phantom snapped his fingers and fireplace burst into green fire, much to Dursleys' surprise.

"What the hell are you?!" Danny laughed.

"Try to guess, I have pointed ears, fangs, there is an arrowed tail hidden under my shirt..." he smiled evilly at their terrified faces, Phantom leaned closer, "not to mention, that I'm the ruler of my world"

Everyone heard loud cough and turned to Harry, who was carrying a trunk. Danny raised an eyebrow.

"Is that all?"

"Yeah," Danny looked at Dursleys, who shrunk in their seats under this stare.

"Alright, let's go," he got up, "Keep in mind, that I'm looking for you, Vernon and Petunia. One bad word to someone about Harry, I may possess your accomplices and you can say farewell to your little company"

-Laater-

Dolores woke up in Hogwarts Hospital wing, rubbing her head, where Phantom punched her. Merlin, she hates this kid. Wait before she will report...

Her eyes fell on the newspaper, lying on the bed side. To Dolores' horror she saw Danny, smiling widely at her from the front page. It only intensified after reading an article.

HE WHO MUST NOT BE NAMED RETURNS

"In a brief statement on Friday night, Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge confirmed that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has returned to this country and was once more active.

'"It is with great regret that I must confirm that the wizard styling himself Lord...well, you know who I mean...was alive and among us again," said Fudge, looking tired and flustered as he addressed reporters.

"The Minister's statement was met with dismay and alarm from the wizarding community, which as recently as last Wednesday was receiving Ministry assurances that there was "no truth whatsoever in these persistent rumours that You-Know-Who was operating amongst us once more"

"Details of the events that led to the Ministry turnaround are still hazy, though it is believed that He Who Must Not Be Named and a select band of followers (known as Death Eaters) gained entry to the Ministry of Magic itself on Thursday evening"

"Albus Dumbledore, newly reinstated Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, reinstated member of the International Confederation of Wizards and reinstated Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, has so far been unavailable for comment. He has insisted over the past year that You-Know-Who is not dead, as was widely hoped and believed, but is recruiting followers once more for afresh attempt to seize power"

"However, Dark Lord's attempt to gain power were stopped by group of students, led by Harry Potter. The group consisted: Hermione Granger, Ronald and Ginerva Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood and Daniel Work"

"The last one was fighting against Dark Lord in a duel. Surprising attempt led to the more surprising results. Daniel has won the battle, destroying the most feared dark wizard in history. It also revealed Work's heritage. Daniel shared the information, that he is half-demon and his display of power destroyed most of the Ministry Entrance Hall..."

"He demanded to represent rights of all half breeds, saying that his royal status allows him to. Another demand was to fire Dolores Jane Umbridge, former Headmistress and High Inquisitor of Hogwarts. Minister accepted both demands"

Dolores fainted, falling back on soft pillows.

A.N. Aaand the story is finished, folks. It was interesting to write, to say the least. I'm starting a new one immediately! PJ and DP crossover awaits!


	23. Epilogue: Twenty two years later

A.N. Thank user TheFishKing for giving me idea for epilogue.

Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year. The morning of the first of September was crisp as an apple, and as the little family bobbed across the rumbling road toward the great sooty station, the fumes of car exhausts and the breath of pedestrians sparkled like cobwebs in the cold air. Large cage tattled on top of the laden trolley the parents were pushing; the phoenix inside them hooted indignantly, and the little girl trailed fearfully behind her siblings, clutching her father's arm.

"Cheer up, kiddo. It won't be long, and you'll be going too," Danny told her.

"Three years," sniffed Dani "I want to go now!"

The family wove its way toward the barrier between platforms nine and ten, Jack's voice drifted back to Harry over the surrounding clamor; twin brother and sister had resumed the sheming they had started in the car.

"And then we can add some paint in shampoo!"

"You two are too much like your father," Luna said, shaking her head.

"It's Dad's fault," said Jack.

"He is corrupting us," finished Jazz. Danny gasped overdramatically, putting a hand on his heart and making everyone laugh.

The five Phantoms approached the barrier. Twins threw a slightly cocky look on each other and took the trolleys from their parents and broke into a run. A moment later, they had vanished.

As the rest of the family reached the barrier, Dani winced, but no collision came. Instead, the family emerged onto platform nine and three-quarters, which was obscured by thick white steam that was pouring from the scarlet Hogwarts Express. Indistinct figures were swarming through the mist, into which twins had already disappeared.

"Where are they?" asked Dani anxiously, peering at the hazy forms they passed as they made their way down the platform.

"We'll find them," said Luna reassuringly.

But the vapor was dense, and it was difficult to make out anybody's faces. Detached from their owners, voices sounded unnaturally loud, Danny thought he heard Percy discoursing loudly on broomstick regulations, and was quite glad of the excuse not to stop and say hello...

"I think that's them," said Luna suddenly, pointing at the group of eight people. Potters and Weasleys. They walked to them.

"Parked all right, then?" Danny heard Ron saying, "I did. Hermione didn't believe I could pass a Muggle driving test, did you? She thought I'd have to Confound the examiner."

"Did you?" Asked eldest Phantom, calling the group's attention.

"As a matter of fact, I did Confund him," Ron whispered to Harry and Danny, as together they lifted trunks onto the train. "I only forgot to look in the wing mirror, and let's face it, I can use a Supersensory Charm for that"

"Have you seen the twins? They ran somewhere and I can't find them," Danny's friends laughed.

"Looks like Hogwarts will get another Fred and George," Harry said.

"Twins' curse, nothing else"

"Look who it is"

Draco Malfoy was standing there with his wife and son, a dark coat buttoned up to his throat. His hair was receding somewhat, which emphasized the pointed chin. The new boy resembled Draco as much as Albus resembled Harry, or Jack and Jazz resembled Danny. Draco caught sight of them staring at him, nodded curtly, and turned away again.

"So that's little Scorpius," said Ron under his breath. "Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains."

"Ron, for heaven's sake," said Hermione, half stern, half amused. "Don't try to turn them against each other before they've even started school!"

"You're right, sorry," said Ron, but unable to help himself, he added, "Don't get too friendly with him, though, Rosie. Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pureblood."

"Hey!"

James had reappeared, along with twins; they had divested himself of their trunks and trolleys, and were evidently bursting with news.

"Teddy's back there," he said breathlessly, pointing back over his shoulder into the billowing clouds of steam. "Just seen him! And guess what he's doing? Snogging Victoire!"

He gazed up at the adults, evidently disappointed by the lack of reaction.

"Our Teddy! Teddy Lupin! Snogging our Victoire! Our cousin! And I asked teddy what he was doing"

"You interrupted them?" said Danny, "It reminds me about certain someone," he looked at Ron.

"And he said he'd come to see her off! And then he told me to go away. He's snogging her!" Jack added as though worried he had not made himself clear.

"Oh, it would be lovely if they got married!" whispered Lily ecstatically. "Teddy would really be part of the family then!"

"It's nearly eleven, you'd better get on board," said Danny, looking at his pocketwatch.

"Don't forget to give Neville our love!" Luna told the twins as she hugged them.

"Mom! We can't give a professor love!" Said Jazz.

"But you know Neville"

They rolled their eyes.

"Outside, yeah, but at school he's Professor Longbottom, isn't he? We can't walk into Herbology and give him love..."

"Watch out for the thestrals," Danny teased.

"You said they were invisible!" but he merely laughed.

"Thestrals are nothing to worry about," Luna told them, "They're gentle things, there's nothing scare about them. You won't be going up to school in the carriages, you'll be going in the boats."

Luna kissed kids good-bye.

"See you at Christmas."

"Bye, kiddos" said Danny as his children hugged him. "Don't forget Hagrid's invited you to tea next Friday. Peeves will be a valuable ally. Don't duel anyone till you're learned how, there are other ways to humilate your enemies"

"You'll write to us, won't you?" Jack asked his parents immediately.

"Every day, if you want us to," said Luna.

"Not every day," said Jazz quickly, "James says most people only get letters from home about once a month"

"We can write three times a week," said Luna.

"And you don't want to believe everything he tells you about Hogwarts," Danny put in. "He likes a laugh, this kid. But you can win, I believe in you"

But how the doors were slamming all along the scarlet train, and the blurred outlines of parents swarming forward for final kisses, last-minute reminders, the twins jumped into the carriage and Danny closed the door behind them, swapping a hand. Students were hanging from the windows nearest them. A great number of faces, both on the train and off, seemed to be turned toward Danny.

"Why are they all staring?" demanded Albus as he and Rose craned around to look at the other students.

"Don't let it worry you," said Danny, "It's me, I'm extremely famous"

"Yeah, yeah, as you say, 'halfbreeds' liberator'," Ron said sarcastically.

"Now only to give some of them seats in Wizengamot and finite," Danny said, shrugging.

The train began to more, and Danny walked alongside it, watching his kids' faces, already ablaze with excitement. Danny kept smiling and waving, even though it was like a little bereavement, watching his children glide away from him...

The last trace of steam evaporated in the autumn air. The train rounded a corner. Danny's hand was still raised in farewell.

"They'll be alright," murmured Luna.

As Danny looked at her, he wrapped his hand around her head.

"I know they will," Danny said, smirking, "they are Phantoms"

A.N. It seems like a more proper ending.


End file.
